Seek medical attention promptly if you notice skin changes on your breast.
Make an appointment with your doctor if you notice any signs or symptoms that worry you.
Other more common conditions have signs and symptoms resembling those of inflammatory breast cancer.
A breast injury or breast infection (mastitis) may cause redness, swelling, and pain.
Inflammatory breast cancer can be easily confused with a breast infection, which is much more common.
It’s reasonable and common to be initially treated with antibiotics for a week or more.
If your symptoms respond to antibiotics, then additional testing isn’t necessary.
If you’ve been treated for a breast infection but your signs and symptoms persist, contact your doctor.
Your doctor may recommend a mammogram or other test to evaluate your signs and symptoms.
It’s not clear what causes inflammatory breast cancer.
Doctors know that inflammatory breast cancer begins with an abnormal cell in one of the breast’s ducts.
Mutations within the abnormal cell’s DNA instruct it to grow and divide rapidly.
The accumulating abnormal cells infiltrate and clog the lymphatic vessels in the skin of your breast.
This process is called staging.
Other treatments may be used if tests of your cancer cells reveal that you may benefit from additional treatments.
Chemotherapy uses chemicals to kill cancer cells.
You receive chemotherapy drugs through a vein (intravenously), in pill form or both.
Chemotherapy is usually used prior to surgery for inflammatory breast cancer.
Chemotherapy can also be used after surgery.
After chemotherapy, you may have an operation to remove the affected breast (mastectomy).
The lymph nodes are tested for signs of cancer.
Radiation therapy uses high-powered energy beams, such as X-rays and protons, to kill cancer cells.
Targeted therapies kill cancer by focusing on the cancer cells' particular vulnerabilities.
These medications target a protein called HER2 that helps some inflammatory breast cancer cells grow and survive.
Trastuzumab and pertuzumab can be combined with chemotherapy.
If your inflammatory breast cancer is sensitive to hormones, your doctor may recommend hormone therapy.
Palliative care is provided by a team of doctors, nurses, and other specially trained professionals.
Palliative care teams aim to improve the quality of life for people with cancer and their families.
This form of care is offered alongside curative or other treatments you may be receiving.
Here’s some information to help you get ready, and what to expect from your doctor.
List your questions from most important to least important in case time runs out.
Your doctor is likely to ask you a number of questions.
Being ready to answer them may allow more time later to cover other points you want to address.
Your doctor may ask:
Inflammatory breast cancer progresses rapidly.
Sometimes this means you may need to start treatment before you’ve had time to think everything through.
This can feel overwhelming.
To cope, attempt to:
Updated: 2017-05-31
Publication Date: 2006-02-03
