How does inflammatory breast cancer present

Learn more about clinical trials. Learn More. Susan G. Read the full report. Therefore, some information may be out of date. Skip to content. Inflammatory breast cancer IBC is an aggressive form of locally advanced breast cancer. Some women are more likely than others be diagnosed with IBC, including [ ]: Black and African American women Women who are obese Although some social media posts suggest IBC is a new form of breast cancer, it was first identified in the s [ ].

Learn about treatment for IBC. Warning signs of IBC Warning signs of IBC include [ ]: Swelling or enlargement of the breast Redness of the breast may also be a pinkish or purplish tone Dimpling or puckering of the skin of the breast Pulling in of the nipple Breast pain See images of these warning signs.

Biopsy and IBC diagnosis IBC may be diagnosed based on clinical appearance, but a biopsy is needed to confirm the diagnosis of invasive breast cancer. Prognosis for IBC Although survival rates for IBC may not be as high as for other breast cancers, modern treatments are improving prognosis [ ].

Learn about treatment for non-metastatic IBC. Lymph node status Most women with IBC have lymph node-positive breast cancer when they are diagnosed [ ].

Learn about clinical trials for IBC. Neoadjuvant before surgery therapy The first treatment for IBC is neoadjuvant chemotherapy , usually with an anthracycline-based chemotherapy and a taxane-based chemotherapy.

Surgery and radiation therapy Surgery for IBC is almost always a mastectomy with an axillary dissection. Surgery is followed by radiation therapy. Almost all women with IBC will need radiation therapy. Breast reconstruction With IBC, breast reconstruction is usually done after radiation therapy is completed, rather than at the same time as the mastectomy. Chemotherapy, hormone therapy and HER2-targeted therapy Treatments after surgery and radiation therapy depend on prior treatment and tumor characteristics [ 7 ]: If chemotherapy was not completed before surgery, the remaining chemotherapy is given after surgery.

Hormone receptor-positive IBC is treated with hormone therapy. Under study Treatments after neoadjuvant therapy for women with IBC who still have cancer in the breast at the time of surgery are under study. Questions for Your Health Care Provider. Will a sentinel node biopsy be done? How will the status of my lymph nodes affect my treatment plan? Is my tumor hormone receptor-positive or hormone receptor-negative?

How does this affect my treatment plan? What are my treatment options? Which treatments do you recommend for me and why? The latest on newly diagnosed breast cancer Up-to-date information on recurrent breast cancer Specialized treatment information for high risk breast cancer Error Select a topic.

Email address. Thank you for subscribing You will receive the first breast cancer email in your inbox shortly, which will include information on treatment, diagnosis, surgery and how breast cancer teams at Mayo Clinic approach personalized care. Sorry something went wrong with your subscription Please, try again in a couple of minutes Retry. Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Breast anatomy Open pop-up dialog box Close. Breast anatomy Each breast contains 15 to 20 lobes of glandular tissue, arranged like the petals of a daisy.

Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Breast cancer. National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Accessed Sept. Inflammatory breast cancer. National Cancer Institute. Accessed Oct. Menta A, et al. Inflammatory breast cancer: What to know about this unique, aggressive breast cancer. Surgical Clinics of North America. Palliative care. At diagnosis, inflammatory breast cancer is either stage III or IV disease, depending on whether cancer cells have spread only to nearby lymph nodes or to other tissues as well.

Like other types of breast cancer, inflammatory breast cancer can occur in men, but usually at an older age than in women. Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer include swelling edema and redness erythema that affect a third or more of the breast.

The skin of the breast may also appear pink, reddish purple, or bruised. In addition, the skin may have ridges or appear pitted, like the skin of an orange called peau d'orange. These symptoms are caused by the buildup of fluid lymph in the skin of the breast.

This fluid buildup occurs because cancer cells have blocked lymph vessels in the skin, preventing the normal flow of lymph through the tissue. Sometimes the breast may contain a solid tumor that can be felt during a physical exam, but more often a tumor cannot be felt. Other symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer include a rapid increase in breast size; sensations of heaviness, burning, or tenderness in the breast; or a nipple that is inverted facing inward.

Swollen lymph nodes may also be present under the arm, near the collarbone, or both. It is important to note that these symptoms may also be signs of other diseases or conditions, such as an infection, injury, or another type of breast cancer that is locally advanced. For this reason, women with inflammatory breast cancer often have a delayed diagnosis of their disease. Inflammatory breast cancer can be difficult to diagnose. Often, there is no lump that can be felt during a physical exam or seen in a screening mammogram.

In addition, most women diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer have dense breast tissue, which makes cancer detection in a screening mammogram more difficult. Also, because inflammatory breast cancer is so aggressive, it can arise between scheduled screening mammograms and progress quickly. The symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer may be mistaken for those of mastitis, which is an infection of the breast, or another form of locally advanced breast cancer.

To help prevent delays in diagnosis and in choosing the best course of treatment, an international panel of experts published guidelines on how doctors can diagnose and stage inflammatory breast cancer correctly. Their recommendations are summarized below. Proper diagnosis and staging of inflammatory breast cancer helps doctors develop the best treatment plan and estimate the likely outcome of the disease. Patients diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer may want to consult a doctor who specializes in this disease.

Inflammatory breast cancer is generally treated first with systemic chemotherapy to help shrink the tumor, then with surgery to remove the tumor, followed by radiation therapy. This approach to treatment is called a multimodal approach.

Studies have found that women with inflammatory breast cancer who are treated with a multimodal approach have better responses to therapy and longer survival. Treatments used in a multimodal approach may include those described below. The prognosis, or likely outcome, for a patient diagnosed with cancer is often viewed as the chance that the cancer will be treated successfully and that the patient will recover completely.

Because inflammatory breast cancer usually develops quickly and spreads aggressively to other parts of the body, women diagnosed with this disease, in general, do not survive as long as women diagnosed with other types of breast cancer. Women who have inflammatory breast cancer are encouraged to talk with their doctor about their prognosis, given their particular situation.

Ongoing research, especially at the molecular level, will increase our understanding of how inflammatory breast cancer begins and progresses. This knowledge should enable the development of new treatments and more accurate prognoses for women diagnosed with this disease.

It is important, therefore, that women who are diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer talk with their doctor about the option of participating in a clinical trial.

NCI sponsors clinical trials of new treatments for all types of cancer, as well as trials that test better ways to use existing treatments. Participation in clinical trials is an option for many patients with inflammatory breast cancer, and all patients with this disease are encouraged to consider treatment in a clinical trial. People interested in taking part in a clinical trial should talk with their doctor.

Additional information about clinical trials is available online. Menu Contact Dictionary Search. Understanding Cancer. What Is Cancer? Cancer Statistics. Cancer Disparities. Cancer Causes and Prevention. Risk Factors. Cancer Prevention Overview. Cancer Screening Overview. Screening Tests. Diagnosis and Staging. If the diagnosis is delayed, the cancer can spread to distant sites. If you have any of these symptoms, it does not mean that you have IBC, but you should see a doctor right away.

If inflammatory breast cancer IBC is suspected, one or more of the following imaging tests may be done:. Sometimes a photo of the breast is taken to help record the amount of redness and swelling before starting treatment. Breast cancer is diagnosed by a biopsy , taking out a small piece of the breast tissue and looking at it in the lab. Your physical exam and other tests may show findings that are "suspicious for" IBC, but only a biopsy can tell for sure that it is cancer.