Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Risks of online advertisement of direct-to-consumer thermography for breast cancer screening

Abstract

Direct-to-consumer online advertising for thermography as a sole agent with which to diagnose breast cancer is misleading and exploits women who are seeking preventive health care for breast cancer. Regulatory action should be taken against companies who continue to mislead the public to ensure patient safety and evidence-based public health information.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. The United States Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for Breast Cancer [online], (2011).

  2. Lloyd-Williams, K. & Handley, R. S. Infrared thermography in the diagnosis of breast disease. Lancet 2, 1378–1381 (1961).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Kontos, M., Wilson, R. & Fentiman, I. Digital infrared thermal imaging (DITI) of breast of breast lesions: sensitivity and specificity of detection of primary breast cancers. Clin. Radiol. 66, 536–539 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Safety Communication: Breast Cancer Screening - Thermography is Not an Alternative to Mammography [online], (2011).

  5. Dr. Mercola's Natural Health Center. Thermography [online], (2011).

  6. Arora, N. et al. Effectiveness of a noninvasive digital infrared thermal imaging system in the detection of breast cancer. Am. J. Surg. 196, 523–526 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Institute for the Advancement of Medical Imaging. About Thermography [online], (2011).

  8. Gautherie, M. & Gros, C. M. Breast thermography and cancer risk prediction. Cancer 45, 51–56 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Food and Drug Administration. Regulatory Procedures Manual [online], (2011).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kimberly M. Lovett.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lovett, K., Liang, B. Risks of online advertisement of direct-to-consumer thermography for breast cancer screening. Nat Rev Cancer 11, 827–828 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3170

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3170

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Cancer

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Cancer newsletter — what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Cancer