The American Cancer Society suggests that breast cancer will kill approximately 40,000 American women this year. But one of the most telling aspects of the disease is that the fatality rates continue to decline. As Breast Cancer Awareness Month winds down, one discovers that there is so much information and assistance available today “” progress and hope, to be sure. Then suddenly someone sends an e-mail that goes out to a certain group of women and there are more worries afoot.
The message discusses an insidious condition, Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC), a form of breast cancer that remains a mystery to many people, including the medical community and potential victims alike.
“IBC is one of the rarer forms of breast cancer ” accounting for something like 1 to 2 percent of all breast cancers ” and the major difference for patients is its aggressive behavior,” said Joy Hamer, director of protocol development and quality assurance at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (SKCC). “Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer need to be aware that IBC can manifest itself by appearing as lesions, bumps or a rash on the skin of the affected breast that can actually spread to other areas of the chest.”
IBC presents many problems, including the possibility of misdiagnosis. In other words, doctors may see the corresponding skin problems as just that ” skin problems like an allergy or infection ” and thus they may initially prescribe antibiotics.
“The message to women is that they need to be aware of this type [of] cancer, and if they have anything suspicious on their skin or right under their skin, especially if they have been diagnosed with breast cancer, they need to bring this to the attention of their doctor,” Hamer said. “If their doctor dismisses it as something else and the patient wants to rule out IBC, they need to seek another medical opinion to make sure they get the proper diagnosis. They need to ask, ‘Is there a possibility that this is IBC?'”
Both women and men (although it is very rare for the latter), who have and have not been diagnosed with breast cancer, need to be aware of this disease, recognize its symptoms and be willing and able to discuss it with medical professionals.
“Women need to seek immediate treatment because delaying treatment is not wise. They need to be assertive to physicians in order to receive the proper diagnosis and receive it fast,” Hamer said. “Most breast cancers don’t grow that rapidly but IBC grows very fast, and so immediate treatment is necessary, and being put off is only increasing their risk of dying.”
While most people know somebody with breast cancer ” a loved one, a co-worker or a friend ” not that many people know someone with IBC because it is just not that widely known or recognized yet.
“IBC does not produce a distinctive mass that you can feel and that is why it cannot be detected with traditional methods like the mammogram,” Hamer said. “The diagnosis is based on biopsy and clinical judgment, and that can present a problem if the physicians dealing with it are not familiar with it.”
Symptoms of IBC include a rash, skin changes, dimpled skin, enlarged lymph nodes, swelling in the breast, changes in the breast area, armpit, neck or chest; itching or pain in the breast; or a nipple which is flattened, inverted and perhaps with a discharge.
“IBC grows rapidly and requires aggressive treatment, and if someone notices these symptoms they need to get medical attention right away,” Hamer said. “With aggressive treatment, the survival can increase substantially.”
For information about IBC, see www.nationalbreastcancer.org.
SKCC is planning a breast cancer trial using a non-toxic therapy beginning next spring. For information visit www.skcc.org.
The cancer center will celebrate the opening of its new research building next month on Nov. 9. The $24 million, 9,000-square-foot facility will enable the SKCC to increase its numbers of new cancer treatments. Some of them will reach phase 1 clinical testing within the next nine months, according to Dr. Albert Deisseroth, SKCC president and CEO.
The San Diego Race for the Cure 5K will take place Sunday, Nov. 5 in Balboa Park.