Inflammatory Breast Cancer

What You Need to Know

Breast Cancer is a very scary thing for any woman to go through. There are various types of breast cancer. I am going to discuss inflammatory breast cancer. If you have or suspect you have breast cancer make sure to go to your doctor for a checkup. The good news about breast cancer is in most situations with the proper treatment a woman can live a happy, healthy, normal life after getting rid of the breast cancer.

Most of the time a woman has no symptoms of breast cancer until they notice a lump while doing a self-breast exam or when they are at the doctor’s office and the doctor feels the lump during examination. Some breast cancers may not have a lump making it harder to find as is the case with inflammatory breast cancer.

Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare but very aggressive type of breast cancer in which the cancer cells block the lymph vessels in the skin of the breast. This type of breast cancer is called “inflammatory” because the breast often looks swollen and red, or inflamed. Inflammatory breast cancer accounts for 1 to 5 percent of all breast cancer cases in the United States.

Symptoms of  Inflammatory Breast Cancer may include redness, swelling, and warmth in the breast, often times without a distinct lump in the breast. This causes some women to not really worry because they feel it isn’t cancer, so it’s no problem. But if you notice a redness and warmth in your breast have it checked by your doctor. The redness and warmth are caused by the cancer cells blocking the lymph vessels in the skin. The skin of the breast may also appear pink, reddish purple, or bruised. The skin may also have ridges or appear pitted, which is caused by a buildup of fluid and edema in the breast.

Swollen lymph nodes may also be present under the arm, above the collarbone, or in both places. However, it is very important to note that these symptoms could also be signs of other conditions such as infection, injury, or other types of cancer