Inflammatory Breast Cancer Survival Rate: Symptoms And Diagnosis

Inflammatory breast cancer as the name suggests is cancer of breast characterized by redness, warmth, tenderness and swelling of breast. It is an aggressive breast cancer which spreads very quickly to other parts of the body. By the time the disease is diagnosed it reaches stage 3 or stage 4. It is a rare form of breast cancer and accounts for 1 to 5 % of all the breast cancers in United States.

In inflammatory breast cancer, the lymph vessels in breast skin are blocked. The disease is more common in young women, especially in women of African America origin.

Hormone therapy is not beneficial. It is common in obese women. With advent of newer chemotherapy drugs, radiation therapy etc it is possible to arrest the rapid spread of disease.

Symptoms Of Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Detecting initial symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer may help in ensuring prompt treatment. Below are given some of the important symptoms:

Swelling of breast: Swollen breast is one of the earliest manifestations of inflammatory breast cancer. Due to blockage of lymph vessels, there is unusual swelling in breast. It becomes enlarged and heavy. The breast is tender to touch.

It is also accompanied with skin discoloration.

Breast discoloration: The breast skin may appear different. It is second most common symptom. The skin of the affected breast may become pink and then turn purple. Breast may feel warm and tender. Some women complain of itching in the affected breast.

Pitting of breast: Breast skin in inflammatory breast cancer, appears similar to that of the skin of an orange with tiny pits. Therefore it is also called Peau d’orange. It is because of fluid built up in the breast as a result of blocked lymph vessels. Unlike other types of breast cancer, patients with inflammatory breast cancer may not have breast lumps.

Nipple changes: The nipple gets retracted and inverted. Breast discomfort and pain are other symptoms.

Survival Rate Of Inflammatory Breast Cancer

As inflammatory breast cancer is a fast spreading cancer, a woman diagnosed with it does not live long as compared to woman with other types of breast cancer.

The 5 year survival rate for women diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer is 37%. In other type of breast cancer the survival rate is much high (up to 80%). This means only 37 women having inflammatory breast cancer may survive up to and over 5 years after the diagnosis.

African American women have worse prognosis as compared to people of other races.

How To Diagnose Inflammatory Breast Cancer?

It is very difficult to diagnose inflammatory breast cancer. This is because the patient does not have a lump in breast. Generally while examination; the doctor may feel the lump in breast with other types breast cancer. The non fatty dense tissue of breast in these patients makes the cancer detection more difficult on mammography.

Second reason is the disease is very aggressive. It can progress fast within days between the two mammograms. Often the disease is mistaken with mastitis, an infection of breast.

Physicians rely on this minimum requirement for diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer.

  • Rapid discoloration of breast, warmth, pitting skin, and absence of breast lump
  • Symptoms develop within few months with rapidity
  • At least 1/3rd of breast becomes red and inflamed
  • Biopsy in the primary stage shows invasive cancer