Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) is a specific type of Locally Advanced Breast Cancer (LABC) because of its unique features. IBC is a rare breast cancer but it is also very aggressive. Inflammatory breast cancer is found to be one to five percent of all breast cancers.
Symptoms
Inflammatory breast cancer does not exhibit distinct lumps or masses. IBC causes thickening and swelling of skin of the breast. Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer include:
• red, pink, reddish purple or bruised appearance;
• extreme tenderness;
• enlargement beyond normal hormonal changes;
• warm to the touch;
• inflamed appearance;
• ridges or pits like an orange;
• inverted nipple;
Diagnosis
Inflammatory breast cancer is a very rapidly progressing cancer, taking only weeks or a few months to develop. If you see any of these signs, immediately make an appointment for your physician for an exam.
Your physician will do a physical exam and will be able to diagnose IBC. Your physician may order additional tests to confirm the diagnosis. A biopsy, mammogram and breast ultrasound will confirm and show the extent of the cancer.
Treatments
The treatment for IBC is as quick and aggressive as the cancer itself. Your treatment will begin with chemotherapy which will control or kills cancer cells in your breasts as well as elsewhere in your body. When your chemotherapy treatments are finished, you will have surgery to remove the tumor or to remove all the breast tissue. Surgery may also include lymph nodes if they have also been affected by cancer.
Radiation therapy to the chest wall will begin to treat a localized area to continue the removal of cancer cells. Once the radiation therapy is finished, your physician may recommend follow up therapy. This is a measure to reduce the opportunity for the cancer to come back. You may have a second round of chemotherapy or hormone therapy.
The Hard Truth
Inflammatory Breast Cancer is stage III-B Locally Advanced Breast Cancer. Simply put, by the time the symptoms begin to show, the cancer can be spread to other parts of your body. IBC is more aggressive than other types of breast cancer and is more difficult to treat.
The five year survival rate is 25 to 50 percent.
Be Alert
Attention to details allows inflammatory breast cancer to be caught at its earliest stage. As with all breast cancers, the earlier it is detected, the better your chance for full recovery.
Tags: breast cancer, Advanced Breast, Advanced Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer, breast cancer, breast cancers