has anyone hear about the silent killer inflammatory breast cancer?

Answer 1

Inflammatory breast cancer is an uncommon type of breast cancer in which breast cancer cells block the lymph vessels in the skin of the breast. This blockage may cause the breast to become red, swollen, and warm. The skin of the breast may also appear pink, purple, or bruised, and it may have ridges or appear pitted, like the skin of an orange (called peau d'orange). These changes often occur quickly over a period of weeks. Another possible sign of this type of breast cancer is swollen lymph nodes under the arm, above the collarbone, or in both places. Often, a tumor cannot be felt, and may not be seen on a mammogram. The diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer is based on the results of the biopsy and the doctor’s clinical judgment.

Inflammatory breast cancer generally grows rapidly, and the cancer cells often spread to other parts of the body. A woman with inflammatory breast cancer usually has local treatment to remove or destroy the cancer in the breast and systemic treatment to control or kill cancer cells that may have spread to other parts of the body. Local treatment affects only cells in the tumor and the area close to it; systemic treatment affects cells throughout the body. The local treatment may be surgery and/or radiation therapy to the breast and underarm. The systemic treatment may be chemotherapy (anticancer drugs), hormonal therapy (drugs that interfere with the effects of the female hormone estrogen), or both. Systemic treatment is generally given before surgery and/or radiation therapy. In some cases, local treatment may be followed by additional systemic treatment with hormonal therapy, chemotherapy, or both. Some women also may have biological therapy (which stimulates the immune system to fight the cancer).

Researchers continue to study the effectiveness of biological therapy, new chemotherapy and hormonal therapy, and new combinations of chemotherapy and hormonal therapy. Information about ongoing clinical trials (research studies) is available from the Cancer Information Service (see below), or from the clinical trials page of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Cancer.gov Web site at http://www.cancer.gov/clinical_trials on the Internet.

Answer 2

I just got an e-mail from my sister on it. It can be very bad by the time they find it. Sometimes the first sign will be a place that just looks like a bug bite. Enlargement of the brest and redness. PLEASE get it checked right away. An MRI is the best way to detect it- not a mammogram.

Answer 3

Was diagnosed in September 2015 was a stage 4 when found and had spread to my lymph nodes as well. Went thru some very tuff chemo, double mastectomy to only find out the tumor did not shrink like my oncologist had hoped. Had 30 radiation treatments followed by oral chemo for about 5 months. Found two lesions on the frontal lobs of my brain in early December 2016, had radiation to those areas on December 9, 2016. It is like a crap shoot not good odds. Feeling better than I have since the original diagnosis, but still low energy and joint pain from meds I am taking to hopefully keep the cancer from returning somewhere else. Oncologist says there is a very good chance it will come back so I have to be on my toes about every little ache or pain. Could be worse I am sure.

Answer 4

Yes, very frightening. You can learn more about it at the site mentioned below. Might take a while to load.

Answer 5

Yes. Do you have it?