You Don’t Have to Have a Lump to Have Breast Cancer

The Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation is dedicated to researching the cause of Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC),  an advanced and accelerated form of breast cancer usually not detected by mammograms or ultrasounds. IBC can be diffuse throughout the breast with no palpable mass. Lymph node involvement is assumed. Inflammatory breast cancer requires immediate aggressive treatment with chemotherapy prior to surgery and is treated differently than other types of breast cancer.

What is 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.” IBC accounts for 1 to 5 percent of all breast cancer cases in the United States. It tends to be diagnosed in younger women compared to non-IBC breast cancer. It occurs more frequently and at a younger age in African Americans than in Whites. Like other types of breast cancer, IBC can occur in men, but usually at an older age than in women. Some studies have shown an association between family history of breast cancer and IBC, but more studies are needed to draw firm conclusions.

“Inflammatory Breast Cancer Questions and Answers Sheet.” National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. www.cancer.gov, 2007. Retrieved from Web 17 May 2012. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/IBC.

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