An online friend of mine brought this information to my attention and I felt it was something that every woman should be aware of.

It started with a link to a television station’s video of a report. It concerns Inflammatory Breast Cancer. This is an advanced and accelerated form of breast cancer usually not detected by mammograms or ultrasounds. Inflammatory breast cancer requires immediate aggressive treatment with chemotherapy prior to surgery and is treated differently than more common types of breast cancer.

The information I am sharing is from the IBC Research Foundation’s website. This site also gives a link for you to read the transcript (and see) of the video linked above. 

We have been taught and are reminded frequently by public service announcements and by the medical community that when a woman discovers a lump on her breast she should go to the doctor immediately.

Inflammatory breast cancer usually grows in nests or sheets, rather than as a confined, solid tumor and therefore can be diffuse throughout the breast with no palpable mass. The cancer cells clog the lymphatic system just below the skin. Lymph node involvement is assumed. Increased breast density compared to prior mammograms should be considered suspicious.

The symptoms can be attributed to a breast infection and antibiotics prescribed. If the antibiotics do not help the symptoms after one week, a biopsy or a referral to a specialist should be sought.

One or more of the following are Typical Symptoms of IBC:

• Swelling, usually sudden, sometimes a cup size in a few days

• Itching

• Pink, red, or dark colored area (called erythema) sometimes with texture similar to the skin of an orange (called peau d'orange)

• Ridges and thickened areas of the skin

• What appears to be a bruise that does not go away

• Nipple retraction

• Nipple discharge, may or may not be bloody

• Breast is warm to the touch

• Breast pain (from a constant ache to stabbing pains)

• Change in color and texture of the aureole

Another way to categorize IBC is by age and gender at time of diagnosis:

• There is documented evidence of two cases in girls as young as 12-years-old, one of whom had not begun menstruation.

• There are several documented cases of male IBC.

• There are cases diagnosed during pregnancy or lactation.

• And there are cases that don't fall into any of the first three categories, but are diagnosed in each of three menopausal periods of life: premenopausal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal.

Beyond those categories, there are IBC cases that have special circumstances:

• 3 cases diagnosed in 10 months amongst 24 co-workers

• more than one case in the same family: mother-daughter, sisters, and 1st degree cousins

• IBC diagnosed in a breast with an implant

• IBC diagnosed post-hysterectomy, in some cases including oophorectomy (the surgical removal of one or both ovaries)

Doctors and radiologists aren’t all well-versed in IBC. Some have attributed symptoms to caffeine (even if the woman didn’t partake), spider bites, the wearing of under wire bras, detergent causing the rashes, food allergies, cyst fluid, and even to shingles.

Please be proactive in your own health. Read up on IBC “just in case.”

Your children will be grateful.

Donna Conner lives with her husband, Glenn, their son, Mike, and their beloved dog, Lucia, and calls Fort Worth, Texas home. Donna and Glenn have been homeschooling their son since the beginning of his education. Mike completes his homeschooling within the next two years. Donna is an artist and has always enjoyed writing. She wrote Homeschooling Only One three years ago, after discovering that there were many other families homeschooling only one child. Her website is devoted to those with only one student in their homeschool, with listings of online resources. You can visit her website at http://donnac.com and read her blog at http://homeschoolblogger.com/DonnaC

copyright © 2006 Donna Conner
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