Inflammatory Breast Cancer - Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Inflammatory Breast Cancer
Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Symptoms
One or more of the following are Typical 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
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
If you suddenly develop a lump or mass, have it checked immediately. We have one reported case where a 9×8x5cm lump developed in only three weeks.

Use caution when relying on the interpretations and reports of the mammogram or ultrasound! Inflammatory breast cancer usually grows in nests or sheets, rather than as a confined solid tumor. IBC may not be detected using either mammography or ultrasonography. Increased breast density compared to prior mammograms should be considered suspicious. Remember: You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.

Please see the IBC Slide Presentation, and especially slides 12 and 13: a mass was found in only 15% of mammograms of IBC patients in a peer-reviewed retrospective review of mammograms and IBC.

Click here to view pictures of some symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer, effects of steroids, and how skin metastases may appear.

NBC5 Chicago reports November 11, 2004
Law librarian Marilyn Coon noticed that her right breast became itchy, red and painful.
She saw both a gynecologist and primary care physician.
“They kind of treated it like it was an inflammation or a bruise.”
Read the story Aggressive Breast Cancer Can Go Undetected.

KOMO-TV Seattle interviewed Nancy Key for
IBC: The Silent Killer, September 1, 2004

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