Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare cancer that happens in a very small percentage of women. It is an aggressive type of locally advanced cancer. In general, women with inflammatory breast cancer are diagnosed at a younger age. In extremely rare circumstances, this form of breast cancer is diagnosed in men. Inflammatory breast cancer usually develops as a sheet rather than a lump.
Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer include:Breast becomes red, purple, pink or bruised; Breast becomes firm and enlarged;A warm feeling in the breast; Itching of the breast; Pain; Skin texture similar to an orange peel;
The treatment usually starts with chemotherapy, systemic treatment, surgery and then radiation therapy, which are the local treatments; this is then followed by additional chemotherapy and then hormone treatments.
The incidence of inflammatory breast cancer is quite variable. Women with this cancer tend to be significantly younger than those with other breast cancers and African Americans with this type of cancer tend to be younger than Caucasians.
Patients may not get the specific chemotherapy dose and also the patient may require two treatments of radiation therapy a day rather than only one treatment, as inflammatory breast cancer is a rapid growing cancer. This is where the importance of an experienced radiologist in inflammatory breast cancer is necessary.
These treatments have greatly improved the prognosis for a woman with inflammatory breast cancer. Recent studies have shown as much as a 50% survival rate after 5 years and a 35% survival rate after 10 years.
