In general, breast cancer is a disease where someone’s cells in their breast grow erratically. Symptoms of breast cancer include lumps in the breast, changes in size or shape, or changes to the nipple. Swollen lymph nodes can also be a symptom of breast cancer. What some women don’t always realize is how many specific types of breast cancer there are, and these types play a role in everything from the symptoms a person experiences to the treatment plan. Inflammatory breast cancer is one type.
Below are some of the important things to know about this particular type of breast cancer.
1. It’s Rare
Inflammatory breast cancer, or IBC, is rare, accounting for only 1-5% of all breast cancers. It’s a type of invasive ductal carcinoma, but the symptoms and treatment are different.
The reason IBC is named this is that it causes symptoms of breast inflammation, including redness and swelling. These symptoms occur because cancer cells block the skin’s lymph vessels, which makes the breast appear inflamed.
IBC can be divided into molecular subtypes, which is true of other forms of breast cancer as well. There are HER2-positive, hormone receptor-positive, and then triple-negative breast cancers. When compared to non-inflammatory forms of breast cancer, IBC is more frequently triple-negative or HER2-positive.
2. Signs and Symptoms
Signs and symptoms of IBC can develop quickly and may include the following:
- Edema or swelling of the breast skin
- Redness that involves more than 1/3 of the breast
- Pitting of the skin of the breast or thickening—these symptoms can make it look like an orange peel
- Inversion or retraction of the nipple
- One breast may look larger than the other due to swelling
- One breast may feel heavier and warmer than the other
- The breast may feel itchy, painful, or tender
- There may be lymph node swelling under the arms or close to the collarbone
3. Risk Factors
The risk factors for inflammatory breast cancer are similar to other types of breast cancer and can include the following:
- As women get older, their breast cancer risk goes up. Most breast cancer is diagnosed after the age of 50. On average, IBC diagnoses are around five years younger than non-IBC.
- Certain gene mutations can increase the risk of cancer developing, including BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.
- If you have a family history involving cancer of the breast, you may be at greater risk of also developing it. For example, if you have a parent, child, or sibling with breast cancer, you may be at more risk.
- If you started your period before you were 12-years-old, you’re at a higher risk of developing breast cancer.
- Women with no full-term pregnancies before the age of 30 may be at more risk for developing breast cancer. Women who had their first pregnancy after they were 30 are also more at risk.
- If you have a previous breast cancer diagnosis, you can be more at risk of developing second cancer.
- If you had radiation therapy as a child or early in adulthood, you could be more at risk of later developing breast cancer.
- Obesity raises the risk of breast cancer, especially obesity after menopause.
- Having dense breast tissue is a breast cancer risk factor.
4. Diagnosis
The diagnosis process for IBC is similar to other types of breast cancer. A physical exam, imaging tests, and biopsies are typically part of the diagnostic process.
Additional tests might be used to determine whether cancer has spread to someone’s lymph nodes or other parts of their body.
The information gathered during the diagnostic process is used to give cancer a stage, which is reflected in Roman numerals.
Since inflammatory breast cancer tends to grow quickly and be aggressive, it’s usually staged as III to IV. Stage IV indicates it’s spread to other body parts.
5. Treatment
Inflammatory breast cancer treatment will usually start with chemotherapy. If cancer has spread to other parts of the body, a healthcare team might recommend other drug treatments. Surgery may be used after chemo to remove the breast that’s affected and some of the nearby lymph nodes.
Radiation is sometimes used after surgery to eliminate any cancer cells that remain with IBC.
Targeted therapies may be used to attack the cancer cells’ particular abnormalities, and hormone therapy is sometimes used for breast cancers that rely on hormones to grow.
Finally, immunotherapy is used to help your own immune system fight cancer. Immunotherapy might be used if your breast cancer is triple negative and if your cancer has spread to other body parts or areas.
