Observations lead to new hypotheses, but those hypotheses DO NOT contribute to scientific knowledge unless they are tested.
Introduction to The first thing we want to know about IBC:
High grade, poorly differentiated Inflammatory Breast Cancer has not yet been the object of research using Molecular Profiling while it “has been the subject of considerable medical controversy for a number of years, with considerable debate as to whether it is primarily a clinical or pathologic entity.” source
It has been hypothesized that IBC consists of sub-types which will be elucidated using the tools of molecular profiling, and that there will no longer be a medical controversy surrounding a diagnosis of IBC.
Research tools are now available to move beyond the controversial definition of IBC that has been used, almost unchanged, since the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, to a well-defined, unambiguous definition that leaves patients, clinicians, and researchers in consonance.
The first thing we want to know about IBC: What is a 21st Century well-defined unambiguous definition of IBC?
The second thing we want to know about IBC: Using that 21st Century definition of IBC, what is its incidence, prevalence and mortality?
The third thing we want to know about IBC: In what way does the extracellular matrix contribute to IBC growing in nests or sheets?
The fourth thing we want to know about IBC: What can be learned about IBC by studying the tumor characteristics in multiple cases of IBC in the same family (we know of five such cases in the U.S.)? Are the biological characteristics the same as those in non-familial IBC? If you are a member of a family where there has been more than one case of IBC, and would like to help answer these questions, please write to us at questions at ibcresearch.org.
