Thermography screening putting women at risk of hidden breast cancer threat

EXCLUSIVE: HEALTH experts have warned women about breast cancer screening ­services they claim are potentially putting patients’ lives at risk.

• MAMMOGRAMS MAY NOT DETECT IN ‘DENSER’ BREASTS

HEALTH experts have warned women about breast cancer screening ­services they claim are potentially putting patients’ lives at risk across Australia.

Experts have identified multiple sites where thermography treatments are on offer, despite a crackdown on the services years ago.

Thermography allegedly detects heat changes in body tissue which ­indicates the presence of ­cancer, a claim rejected by health professionals.

The Daily Telegraph understands Thermography Australia operates in Crows Nest while multiple companies are profiting from the practice in Queensland as well as one in South Australia.

In 2011 there were 28 companies operating in Australia but a campaign led by Cancer Council Western Australia led to the prosecution of two while others shut down or took down claims from their websites.

Experts have identified multiple sites where thermography treatments are on offer, despite a crackdown on the services years ago.

Research published in the Sax Institute’s Public Health Research & Practice journal outlines how the businesses were shut, but the ­article’s co-author, Terry ­Slevin, said some were still ­operating.

“At the very minimum, women have wasted their money, and at the maximum, they’ve taken the risk of believing a test that does not have the ability to detect the presence of cancer,” he said.

“There is the possibility that they could have cancer but go away feeling reassured. There’s the prospect of the cancer turning up at a more ­advanced stage further down the track.”

Mr Slevin said the service usually cost $300 or more. Women are convinced to use the screening because it is less painful than a mammogram and does not use ­radiation.

“They make arguments about it being more useful for younger women with denser breast tissue,” Mr Slevin said.

Numerous operators in Queensland and one in South Australia have been identified by the researchers.

Thermography Australia in Crows Nest did not respond to our request for comment yesterday.

The director of research at Cancer Council NSW, Karen Canfell, urged women to not use the services.

Women are convinced to use the screening because it is less painful than a mammogram and does not use ­radiation.