Inflammatory breast cancer has no lump or mass that can be felt. It is a very rare and dangerous type of breast cancer. It cannot be detected by self breast examination and mammogram. In inflammatory breast cancer there is infiltration of the skin and lymph vessels of the breast by cancer cells. The symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer are a swollen, red and warm breast which is brought on by the lymph vessels becoming blocked by the breast cancer cells. The breast has a typical appearance of an individual with cellulite. Other symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer include, on the affected side, enlarged lymph nodes present under the arm or it may be above the collar bone.
Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer include:Breast becomes red, purple, pink or bruised; Breast becomes firm and enlarged;A warm feeling in the breast; Itching of the breast; Pain; Skin texture similar to an orange peel;
It is very easy to mix up the symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer with those of a breast infection. If you become aware of any of the signs of inflammatory breast cancer, see your doctor immediately.
The surgeon may think it is best if the breast is removed and sometimes the breast is removed too early. This early removal of the breast increases the risk of the disease making reappearance.
As with all advanced cancers, chemotherapy is started with three or four cycles of Adriamycin and Cytoxan with or without Taxol or Taxotere. After which local treatment can be done - usually in the form of mastectomy. After mastectomy, most women will receive four more cycles of chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy to the chest wall. Serious though it can be, inflammatory breast cancer is still an extremely variable disease.
If a patient has had got the improper or incorrect treatment it will be difficult to go back and improve on the outcome. It is extremely difficult to measure the response to the treatment, as a mass or a nodule is not present in inflammatory breast cancer.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articles-central.info/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
