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Did you know there is more than one type of breast cancer?
Did you know you can have an advanced stage of breast cancer and never feel or see a lump?
What is Inflammatory Breast Cancer?
INFLAMMATORY BREAST CANCER (IBC) is an advanced and accelerated form of breast cancer usually not detected by mammograms or ultrasounds. Those with Inflammatory Breast Cancer have a younger median age at diagnosis than do those with other types of breast cancer. IBC is also the most aggressive breast cancer, and is almost always diagnosed at Stage IIIb - Stage IV (there are only IV stages of cancer). IBC claims more than half it's victims. If there's any good news, it's that IBC is a rare breast cancer, with less than 5% of all breast cancer cases being IBC. (But, consider that the American Cancer Society estimates that 178,480 cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2007. Conservatively estimating 3% of these new diagnoses to be IBC would mean that there may be as many as 5,355 new cases of IBC this year). You need to also know that IBC is more likely to be found in African American women. However, men have been diagnosed with IBC, and girls as young as 12 have also been diagnosed with IBC. You do not have to have a family history or the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene to have IBC. IBC is a different disease than regular breast cancer (ductal carcinoma). Although, sometimes women who have IBC also have ductal or lobular breast cancer. However, many women who have IBC do not have any other type of breast cancer, and some never develop a lump that they can feel during exam, or that can be seen on a mammogram.
So, what are the symptoms of IBC?
* Swelling, usually sudden, sometimes a cup size in a few days
* Itching
* Pink, red, or dark colored area (called erythema) sometimes with texture similar to the skin of an orange (called peau d'orange)
* Ridges and thickened areas of the skin
* What appears to be a bruise that does not go away
* Nipple retraction
* Nipple discharge, may or may not be bloody
* Breast is warm to the touch
* Breast pain (from a constant ache to stabbing pains)
* Change in color and texture of the areola
You do not have to have all these symptoms to have IBC, nor does it mean you have IBC if you have one or more of the symptoms. The only way to determine if you have any type of breast cancer is through a biopsy. Many of the symptoms of IBC mimic the symptoms of mastitis, a common infection in the milk ducts of the breast. This can be complicated by pregnancy and lactation (breast feeding), as pregnant and lactating women are more likely to develop mastitis, but have also been diagnosed with IBC. So if you have ANY of the above symptoms, it's best to see a doctor immediately, and to talk to the doctor about IBC. Believe it or not, many doctors have never seen IBC in clinical practice and it is often misdiagnosed. However, it is the standard of practice, and appropriate, that a physician attempt to treat any of the above symptoms with antibiotics first.
The most important thing to remember is that:
YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A LUMP TO HAVE BREAST CANCER
If you still are uncertain, or want a more visually descriptive understanding of IBC, there are some photographs of IBC-infected breasts available. Please view them at your own discretion. Also, please note that IBC presents differently in different women and no two breasts look alike. The photographs available around the internet may not represent what every case of IBC looks like, and may represent more clinically severe and obvious cases of diseased breasts. It is not uncommon to see such dramatic photos and believe that one cannot have IBC because the breast does not appear "red enough" or "swollen enough". The clinical presentation of IBC is an important piece of diagnostic information, but a diagnosis cannot be made on the appearance of the breast alone.
