Inflammatory breast cancer takes lives of most of the people who develop it. It is a very "hostile" type of cancer, which thankfully, is also rare. It gets its name from the inflammation the breasts of the victim develop. Contrary to other forms of cancer, inflammatory breast cancer can develop in relatively younger females, too. Rarely do men develop IBC.
There are lymph vessels in the breasts. When a person develops IBC, the malignant cancerous cells block these vessels. IBC develops in women at a younger age, compared to other forms of breast cancer. Some studies also suggest that White people are less likely to develop this cancer than the African Americans, who are also said to be vulnerable at a younger age.
Inflammatory breast cancer advances very rapidly. That is to say, symptoms appear rapidly and become evident within weeks. This is the reason women with IBC are diagnosed at an early stage than women with other kinds of cancer.
The unique characteristic of Inflammatory breast cancer is that no lump formation is associated with it. This characteristic makes it all the more dangerous, because mammography and ultrasound can not detect it, and it often goes undiagnosed, or misdiagnosed. Biopsy is the best method for diagnosing IBC.
If you have developed IBC, your breast will appear extremely red or purple, often bruised and tender. The breast also gets enormously swelled, giving rise to its inflamed look. The breast size will increase rapidly, and there might be perpetual itching, too. You might get inverted nipples, a heavy aching and burning feel around the breast. The skin around the breast may also appear bumpy, like the skin of an orange, which gives name to the condition's medical term, peau d'orange. This condition occurs due to fluid accumulation. Other symptoms are changes of color or texture in the skin around the nipple (areola), swelling of the nipple, swelling under the arm and on top and below the collarbone.
IBC is often misdiagnosed as mastitis, a breast cancer infection accompanied with redness and swelling of the breast. The most important thing to remember here is that symptoms persist even after two weeks of treatment for IBC, which is not the case with mastitis. It is also good to know that previous chest operations may partially block your breast lymph vessels, and this is not a breast cancer condition.
The mortality rate for IBC used to be 100% some decades back. Now, due to great advancement in technology, it has dropped down to 30% to 50%. Systemic therapy is a great treatment option with both chemotherapy and hormone therapy tried. This is usually followed by a surgery - neoadjuvant therapy - which should ideally be followed by mastectomy. Radiation therapy following the above combination of treatments reduces the chances of a redevelopment of cancer greatly.
Yes, there is still a high mortality rate for Inflammatory breast cancer, but do not let that bring you down. You should keep in mind technology has bettered, and is still improving, and that there are people who love you. You will live as normally as you want to.
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Find out more about inflammatory breast cancer symptoms. Finding the symptoms early is the first step to a successfull treatment for breast cancer
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