Symptoms Of Inflammatory Breast Cancer
August 2, 2008
Of all the types of breast cancer, the one claiming more lives than not is Inflammatory breast cancer. IBC is a very aggressive cancer, and it gets its name from the symptoms women diagnosed with it show. This can occur in women of any age, and is fortunately, a rare type of cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer can also develop in men, though the chances are extremely thin.
IBC gives rise to cancer cells that attack the lymph vessels in the breast. It blocks the vessels, which gives rise to extreme swelling and reddish appearance of the breasts. Research says occurrence of IBC can differ with ethnicity, African American women being more prone, and that too, at a younger age, than White women. Also, it can occur in very young women of any other age, too. This is sad because other forms of breast cancer mostly develop in middle-aged women, while disabling young women to enjoy their lives.
Inflammatory breast cancer can start showing symptoms early on, and become very advanced within a matter or few days. This can be very sad, especially when women delay seeking medical advice regarding the symptoms, as the cancer can advance very rapidly, and it can be very late already, when they seek medical help. However, the symptoms for IBC are so alarming that women almost immediately seek advice, and this is one reason for relatively earlier diagnosis of Inflammatory breast cancer, in most cases.
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.
Typical symptoms for Inflammatory breast cancer are extreme reddish to purple-ish, bruised appearance of the breasts, tenderness and immense swelling, which accounts for its inflamed appearance. The skin around the breasts may be rough and uneven, the nipples may get inverted, there might be persistent itching and heaviness accompanied with burning aching sensations. Usual symptoms like change in color and texture of areola and breasts are present, too. You might also have swellings under your arm and above and below your collarbone, which you should never ignore.
The most common misdiagnosis of Inflammatory breast cancer is mastitis. Mastitis is just a breast infection that shows the same symptoms like redness and swelling, as IBC. After a week or two of treatment for mastitis, your symptoms should start disappearing; otherwise, it’s not mastitis. Lymph vessels can get blocked because of other reasons than cancer, too, such as operations on the chest. This is not any type of cancer. The best way of making sure is getting a biopsy done.
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.
Through all the misery of Inflammatory breast cancer, you should remember the figures of mortality rate decreasing immensely. These indicate that you have a great chance of fighting if off and being happy like all other people that you know.
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