Inflammatory breast cancer is a very rare form of breast cancer--only 1 to 5% of breast cancer cases are of this type. This is fortunate, as inflammatory breast cancer is comparatively deadly. Inflammatory breast cancer doesn't develop as a lump, like the vast majority of breast tumors do. Instead, it spreads throughout the breast, blocking the lymph vessels and causing swelling and changes in breast color.
Survival Rates
Five-year survival rates for inflammatory breast cancer hover around 40%, according to the National Cancer Institute. This means that 40% of women diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer will live for five years past diagnosis. This rate is much lower than five-year survival rates for the much more common non-inflammatory breast cancer, which are around 87%. It's important to remember that these five-year survival rates are averages, and that individual factors play a part in every case.
Explanation
Why does inflammatory breast cancer does have lower survival rates than "traditional" breast cancer? First, inflammatory breast cancer is more difficult to diagnose, and second, it's much more invasive (meaning that it spreads more easily through the body) than non-inflammatory breast cancer. In fact, the least advanced inflammatory breast cancer is diagnosed at stage IIIB, meaning that it has spread tissue around the breast (normally, cancers can be diagnosed at stage I, meaning that they haven't spread past one body part).
Prevention
One of the reasons that inflammatory breast cancer is so deadly is that most women just don't know about it, so it's important to know the symptoms in advance. Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer include pain and tenderness, a thick or heavy feeling in the breast, itching, warmth, and sudden breast enlargement. The skin on the breast might change, becoming ridged or pitted (similar in appearance to an orange peel). The breast may also change color, turning pink, red, or purple, or it might look bruised. The nipples may also turn inward, change color, or crust over. Lymph nodes near the breast--in the armpit or along the collar bone--may become hard and swollen.
Tags: breast cancer, breast cancer, inflammatory breast, inflammatory breast cancer, inflammatory breast cancer
