Inflammatory breast cancer is a special kind of advanced breast cancer and it’s a serious one. Though we see an increasing number of cases, it is rare, accounting for only 1 to 4 percent of all breast cancers. Overall survival is worse in women with this kind of breast cancer than in other forms of breast cancer. It is inflammatory because its initial manifestations are usually redness and warmth in the skin of the breast, often without a palpable lump. Oftentimes, the patient and even the doctor will mistake it for a simple infection and she’ll be put on antibiotics. But it doesn’t get better. It also doesn’t get worse and that’s the tip-off: an infection will always get better or worse within a week or two - it rarely stays the same. If no change seems to be evident, the doctor should perform a biopsy of the underlying tissue to see if it is cancer.
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;
It is very easy to mix up the symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer with those of a breast infection. If you become aware of any of the signs of inflammatory breast cancer, see your doctor immediately.
The surgeon may think it is best if the breast is removed and sometimes the breast is removed too early. This early removal of the breast increases the risk of the disease making reappearance.
In the past, inflammatory breast cancer was treated by surgery and was associated with a 100% mortality rate. Fortunately, major progress has been made in recent years using a combination of treatments, including surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
There is no particular age at which an individual could get the disease. However, studies have shown that the average age ranges from about 45 and 55 years of age, but patients could be younger or older than this age range. The amount of new cases of inflammatory breast cancer diagnosed every year in the United States varies.