SCREENING A RURAL POPULATION FOR BREAST CANCER USING THERMOGRAPHY AND PHYSICAL EXAMINATION TECHNIQUES: METHODS AND RESULTS‐A PRELIMINARY REPORT

During the past ten years there has been a nationwide interest in the early detection of breast cancer through screening programs.'-' The experience of the Health insurance Plan of New York became the stimulus for establishing a network of 27 Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Projects ( BCDDP).6*7 These programs, centered in large metropolitan areas, are jointly sponsored by the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute. Each center examines asymptomatic women between 35 and 75 years of age, today primarily with the use of mammography and physical e~amination. ' .~ On May 1, 1974, a mobile breast cancer screening program was undertaken in the state of South Dakota under the sponsorship of the South Dakota Extension Homemakers Clubs. The South Dakota American Cancer Society participated by providing volunteer help and assistance with the public relations and educational aspects. The program was endorsed by the South Dakota State Medical Association following approval by that organization's Commission on Scientific Medicine. This program differs from the 27 BCDDPs and other reported screening programs in the following respects: ( I ) The screenees represent primarily a rural population, and there is no age limitation. (2) The initial screening modalities consisted only of physical examination and thermography. The results of these two noninvasive techniques determined if mammography was recommended. (3) Mobile clinics providing thermography and physical examinations of the breast traveled throughout the state. Mammography was available a t several hospitals and private radiology groups located primarily in the southwestern and eastern parts of the state. (4) The program was self-supporting, as no federal or private funds were available for this project.