Unlike other breast cancers, inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) rarely causes breast lumps and may not appear on a mammogram. Inflammatory breast cancer symptoms include:
Red, swollen, itchy breast that is tender to the touch.
The surface of the breast may take on a ridged or pitted appearance, like an orange peel (often called peau d ’orange)
Heaviness, burning, or aching in one breast.
One breast is visibly larger than the other.
An inverted nipple (facing inward)
No mass is felt with a breast self-exam.
Swollen lymph nodes under the arm and/or above the collarbone.
Symptoms unresolved after a course of antibiotics
Unlike other breast cancers, inflammatory breast cancer usually does not cause a distinct lump in the breast. Therefore, a breast self-exam, clinical breast exam, or even a mammogram may not detect inflammatory breast cancer. Ultrasounds may also miss inflammatory breast cancer. However, the changes to the surface of the breast caused by inflammatory breast cancer can be seen with the naked eye.
Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer can develop rapidly, and the disease can progress quickly. Any sudden changes in the texture or appearance of the breast should be reported to your doctor immediately.
For women who are pregnant, or breast-feeding, redness, swelling, itchiness, and soreness are often signs of a breast infection such as mastitis, which is treatable with antibiotics. If you are not pregnant or nursing and you develop these symptoms, your doctor should evaluate for inflammatory breast cancer.
What is inflammatory breast cancer?
Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare form of breast cancer that makes up 1 percent to 5 percent of breast cancers in the United States. It occurs when cancer cells block the lymph vessels (which carry lymph fluid and white blood cells throughout the lymphatic system) in the breast, and it gets its name from the “inflamed”—think red, swollen, and dimpled—appearance of the breast skin. Many women describe it as a rash.
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