Diagnosis and Treatment
Because of its shape, inflammatory breast cancer is in somewhat of a stealth mode with respect to mammograms, making it hard to diagnose based on this procedure alone. An ultrasound and a biopsy may be necessary to definitively prove that IBC is the cause of the observed symptoms.
Once IBC has been found, the first course of treatment should always be chemotherapy. A combination of the drugs lapatanib and trastuzumab has been shown to kill IBC cells and shrink the size of the tumor. Nevertheless, with inflammatory breast cancer, mastectomy is usually called for, as both the affected breast and surrounding lymph nodes will need to be removed. After surgery, radiation therapy will then be prescribed in the attempt to kill any remaining cancer cells in the surrounding tissues.
Prognosis
Perhaps because this kind of cancer starts with just one abnormal cell, it is probably the most difficult type to eliminate from the body, and recurrence is therefore common. One unique factor with inflammatory breast cancer is that it only exists in stages 3B and 4 and this ability to leapfrog earlier stages as it spreads beyond the breast ducts is no doubt a part of what makes it so challenging to treat. Unfortunately, the five-year survival rate of this cancer is only between 25 and 50 percent, which is significantly lower than with other forms of breast cancer.
Risk Factors
While the average age of IBC sufferers is still over 50, this breast cancer tends to strike younger women more frequently than other types. African-American women are also disproportionately victimized by inflammatory breast cancer. One of the most disturbing aspects of this disease is that while the incidence of other breast cancers has been falling, the rate of IBC has actually been rising. Because so little is known about what causes inflammatory breast cancer in the first place, there is no explanation as to why this is so.
Speed of Treatment is Critical
Fortunately, IBCs still only comprise between 1 and 5% of all breast cancers diagnosed. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer, and the most difficult to overcome. Because it shows up in an already-advanced state, it is even more critical for women who are showing symptoms of this disease to get to the doctor for a diagnosis as quickly as possible. The faster treatment can begin, the better the odds that even this frightening form of breast cancer can be sent into remission forever. In the meanwhile, vigorous and well-funded research efforts are hard at work trying to develop better treatments for all types of breast cancer, including IBC.
Add new comment