INFLAMMATORY BREAST CANCER

Inflammatory breast cancer is one of the rarest and most aggressive forms of breast cancer, having relatively distinct clinicopathological features and the lowest survival rates. It has characteristic clinical findings, but may be confused with locally advanced breast cancer, which can present with the same physical findings. Biopsy can certainly help confirm the diagnosis. This type of breast cancer has not benefited significantly from the recent advances that have been made for the more common forms of the breast cancer. Breast conserving surgery for inflammatory breast cancer is contraindicated. Radical mastectomy alone for this disease resulted in less than a 5% survival rate at 5 years. Currently, the management of inflammatory breast cancer requires a multidisciplinary approach, which combines chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy. This combination has improved the 5-year overall survival to 50%.