| Inflammatory breast cancer is a special kind of | | | | on women with the disease by a man whose wife |
| advanced breast cancer and it's a serious one. | | | | had died of inflammatory breast cancer showed that |
| Though we see an increasing number of cases, it is | | | | most women said they wished they had known that |
| rare, accounting for only 1 to 4 percent of all breast | | | | when there is redness of the breast skin |
| cancers. Overall survival is worse in women with this | | | | unresponsive to antibiotic therapy, this is indicative of |
| kind of breast cancer than in other forms of breast | | | | inflammatory breast cancer. Probably their doctors |
| cancer. It is inflammatory because its initial | | | | were not breast specialists and did not know about |
| manifestations are usually redness and warmth in the | | | | this unusual type of breast cancer. |
| skin of the breast, often without a palpable lump. | | | | Inflammatory breast cancer is the only kind of breast |
| Oftentimes, the patient and even the doctor will | | | | cancer that virtually everyone agrees doesn't call for |
| mistake it for a simple infection and she'll be put on | | | | mastectomy as its sole primary treatment. Because it |
| antibiotics. But it doesn't get better. It also doesn't | | | | involves the lymphatic vessels of the skin as well as |
| get worse and that's the tip-off: an infection will | | | | of the breast tissue and the skin is sewn back after |
| always get better or worse within a week or two - | | | | mastectomy (surgical removal of the breast), doing a |
| it rarely stays the same. If no change seems to be | | | | mastectomy will leave a great chance of recurrence |
| evident, the doctor should perform a biopsy of the | | | | in the skin. Chemotherapy would be treatment of |
| underlying tissue to see if it is cancer. | | | | choice for this type of breast cancer before any local |
| An asymptomatic breast cancer patient was | | | | treatment can be entertained. |
| breast-feeding and developed what her doctor | | | | The incidence of inflammatory breast cancer is quite |
| thought was lactational mastitis or inflammation of | | | | variable. Women with this cancer tend to be |
| the breast brought about by breast-feeding. It never | | | | significantly younger than those with other breast |
| cleared up and did not hurt much - there was no | | | | cancers and African Americans with this type of |
| fever sign of infection. It hadn't gone away or gotten | | | | cancer tend to be younger than Caucasians. |
| worse in six months. Another patient, not | | | | As with all advanced cancers, chemotherapy is |
| breast-feeding, noticed that one breast had suddenly | | | | started with three or four cycles of Adriamycin and |
| become larger than the other; there was also | | | | Cytoxan with or without Taxol or Taxotere. After |
| redness and swelling. In both cases, the doctors at | | | | which local treatment can be done - usually in the |
| first thought the women had breast infections. So if | | | | form of mastectomy. After mastectomy, most |
| the symptoms continue after treatment, you should | | | | women will receive four more cycles of |
| ask to have a biopsy done of the breast tissue and | | | | chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy to the |
| of the skin itself. With inflammatory breast cancer, | | | | chest wall. Serious though it can be, inflammatory |
| you have cancer in the lymph vessels of your skin, | | | | breast cancer is still an extremely variable disease. |
| which makes the skin red. An internet survey done | | | | |