Inflammatory breast cancer: what are the treatment options?

Abstract

An otherwise healthy, 68-year-old woman presents to her primary-care physician complaining of right breast enlargement, warmth, and progressive pink to dark red skin changes over the past month. She denies fever, pain, or breast discharge. Physical examination reveals erythema of the whole right breast, warmth, swelling, induration, and nipple retraction. Palpable axillary lymphadenopathy is appreciated on the right only. The left breast is uninvolved. The physician is concerned that she may have inflammatory breast cancer.

Keywords::

• chemotherapy
• inflammatory breast cancer
• radiotherapy
• surgery
• targeted therapies
• treatment

Acknowledgements

The authors kindly acknowledge the following grants and financial support: Alfonso Martin Escudero Foundation (MDI), the University of Michigan Hematology/Oncology Training Grant CA 009357-28 (CJM), the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (SDM) and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (SDM).

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