Background

Soft-tissue tumors are often accompanied by abnormal temperature distribution detected during palpation. However, the assessment of temperature distribution is subjective, limiting its wide use in cancer screening. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of the thermal detection of soft-tissue tumors.

Methods

This study involved 100 soft-tissue tumor patients, the pathological diagnosis of which was confirmed by surgery from February 2017 to March 2019 in our hospital. Sixty patients were diagnosed with benign lesions, while 40 patients had malignant tumors. The cohort consisted of 52 males and 48 females, with a median age of 62 (range 22–84). Temperature difference detection by orthopedic oncologists, as well as the consistency and accuracy of temperature distribution detection by orthopedic oncologists, were investigated. The relationship between abnormal temperature distribution and the presence of malignancy in soft tissue was also explored.

Results

We found that more than half of the orthopedic oncologists could detect a temperature difference of 0.2 °C or higher. All three surgeons reported consistent temperature distribution findings after palpation in 92 out of 100 soft-tumor patients. The presence of abnormal temperature distribution was significantly associated with the presence of malignancy (P < 0.0017). Temperature differences of 0.2 °C or higher were significantly associated with the presence of malignant tumors (P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Diagnosis of abnormal temperature distribution by orthopedic oncologists could suggest the presence of malignancy in patients with soft-tissue lesions.

中文翻译：

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热检测软组织肿瘤的临床意义。

背景

软组织肿瘤通常伴有触诊时发现的异常温度分布。然而，温度分布的评估是主观的，限制了其在癌症筛查中的广泛应用。这项研究的目的是评估热检测软组织肿瘤的临床意义。

方法

该研究涉及100例软组织肿瘤患者，其病理诊断已于2017年2月至2019年3月在我院进行了手术证实。60例被诊断为良性病变，而40例患有恶性肿瘤。该队列由52位男性和48位女性组成，中位年龄为62岁（范围22-84）。研究了骨科医师对温度差异的检测，以及骨科医师对温度分布检测的一致性和准确性。还探讨了异常温度分布与软组织中恶性肿瘤之间的关系。

结果

我们发现，超过一半的骨科肿瘤科医生可以检测到0.2°C或更高的温度差。所有三位外科医生在100名软肿瘤患者中有92名在触诊后报告了一致的温度分布结果。温度分布异常的存在与恶性肿瘤的发生显着相关（P  <0.0017）。0.2°C或更高的温度差与恶性肿瘤的存在显着相关（P  <0.001）。

结论

骨科医生对温度分布的异常诊断可能表明软组织病变患者存在恶性肿瘤。