title: The association of infrared imaging findings of the breast with prognosis in breast cancer patients: an observational cohort study.
abstract: To evaluate whether infrared (IR) imaging findings are associated with prognosis in patients with invasive breast carcinomas.
  
  
  
  This study was approved by the institutional review board of the research ethics committee of our hospital, and all participants gave written informed consent. From March 2005 to June 2007, we enrolled 143 patients with invasive breast cancer that underwent preoperative IR imaging. We used five IR signs to interpret breast IR imaging. Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the effect of IR signs on long-term mortality.
  
  
  
  During a median follow-up of 2451 days (6.7 years), 31 patients died. Based on the Cox Proportional Hazards Model, IR1 sign (the temperature of cancer site minus that of the contralateral mirror imaging site) was positively associated with mortality in the univariate analysis (overall mortality hazard ratio [HR], 2.29; p = 0.03; disease-specific mortality HR, 2.57; p = 0.04) as well as the multivariate analysis after controlling for clinicopathological factors (overall mortality HR, 3.85; p = 0.01; disease-specific mortality HR, 3.91, p = 0.02). In patients with clinical stage I and II disease, IR1 was also positively associated with mortality (overall mortality HR, 3.76; p = 0.03; disease-specific mortality HR, 4.59; p = 0.03). Among patients with node-negative disease, IR1 and IR5 (asymmetrical thermographic pattern) were associated with mortality (p = 0.04 for both IR1 and IR5, chi-squared test).
  
  
  
  Breast IR findings are associated with mortality in patients with invasive breast carcinomas. The association remained in patients with node-negative disease.
  
  
  
  NCT00166998 .
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Taipei City Hospital, Heping Branch, 33, Sec 2, Zhonghua Road, Zhongzheng Dist, Taipei 100, Taiwan.|Department of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Hospital, 7 Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan.|Department of Radiology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, 1, section 1, Jen-Ai Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Li-An
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Hung
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Chi-Mei Medical Center, 901 Zhonghua Road, Yongkang District, Tainan 710, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chin-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chung Yuan Christian University, 200 Chung Pei Road, Chung Li Dist, Taoyuan, 32023, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yuh-Show
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Hospital, 7 Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan. jwwangjen@gmail.com.|Department of Radiology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, 1, section 1, Jen-Ai Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan. jwwangjen@gmail.com.|Department of Radiology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, 201, Section 2, Shipai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan. jwwangjen@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D013817:Thermography / Q000379:methods
keywords: Breast carcinoma; Infrared imaging; Mortality; Prognosis