Breast Cancer

Although nowadays breast cancer is considered a highly curable disease there are still forms of breast cancer that are thought to be extremely aggressive. In this article we will take a look at the inflammatory breast cancer; this is a type of breast cancer that usually occurs in women and one of the things that make it so terrible is the fact that this disease affects not only women that have reached a certain age like 45 or more. It is notable that the inflammatory breast cancer can develop in case of women of all ages.



I have to mention that there are also a few unfortunate men who suffered or still suffer from this disease but the percentage is insignificant. This type of cancer can be easily recognized from the fact that the breasts have a red, somehow swollen appearance.



As a worth mentioning difference between this inflammatory type of cancer and the others, we must remind the fact that on the list of symptoms of this disease we can very rarely note the lump. This makes inflammatory breast cancer a very tricky and dangerous disease, by being very hard to detect in an early stage. A mammography or ultrasounds will not be reliable in this case.

Although in the case of this type of cancer a lump is not present, there are still a few symptoms you can look for if you have a history of breast cancer in your family. For instance, any pain that you may feel in the breasts you must immediately report to a specialized doctor. Also skin changes or color changes in the form o redness in the breast area, any permanent bruises or swellings that occur over night are possible signs of inflammatory breast cancer. There are a few symptoms that can appear in the case of any kind of breast cancer  like itching, lymph nodes under the arm, bloody or clear discharges of the nipples and so on. You will most definitely not present all the symptoms previously mentioned, and you should keep in mind that only one symptom can lead after a thorough medical consult to a diagnosis.

The diagnostic tests and treatments are pretty much common to all types of cancer. In the diagnosis category we will include mammograms, biopsies, MRI and PET scans.In spite of the fact that this is a more aggressive type of breast cancer and the diagnosis can be very rarely made accurately throughout mammograms and MRIs, the treatments are as efficient as in the case of regular breast cancer. The treatments followed can include chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgeries. Regarding the surgeries recommended for women affected by inflammatory breast cancer, I must mention that the first step would be consulting a medical team after being diagnosed.



The treatment will depend on many factors, but as you may be aware, a mastectomy with a lymph node removal would be most indicated. In prior to the surgery the most indicated treatment would be chemotherapy, while after surgery the most common course of action is radiation therapy used to remove the remaining cancerous tissue. Most women, the moment they were diagnosed felt like their lives were over or at least they believed everything was going to change dramatically. Of course, some things will change while being a cancer patient, but with effort and most of all hope you will manage to leave your clinic, and cancer free. Remember that even the most aggressive type of cancer is curable and one of the most important things is staying informed so you can choose the best treatment for you.