Earlier Diagnosis Means a Better Inflammatory Breast Cancer Prognosis

There are major differences in inflammatory breast cancer prognosis, symptoms and treatment. So it is very important to distinguish inflamatory breast cancer from other types of breast cancer although it is not a new type of breast cancer. It 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.”

Inflammatory breast cancer is classified as either IIIB or IV breast cancer. The IIIB classification refers cancer that is “locally advanced,” according to the National Cancer Institute. Stage IV cancer has spread to other organs. At the time of diagnosis, inflammatory breast cancer is more likely to have spread to other areas and organs of the body than other forms of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer prognosis describes the likely course and outcome of a disease—that is, the chance that a patient will recover or have a recurrence. Inflammatory breast cancer is more likely to have metastasized (spread to other areas of the body) at the time of diagnosis than non-inflammatory breast cancer cases. With early diagnosis and proper treatment, inflammatory breast cancer can be cured. The five year rate of survival for inflammatory breast cancer patients is about 25-50%. This means 25-50% of patients survive five years after diagnosis of the cancer. These statistics may vary from patient to patient mainly due to the effectiveness of the treatment program and the stage at which the diagnosis is made. With early detection the prognosis of the patients will increase.

The earlier the diagnosis the better the inflammatory breast cancer prognosis. This is why patients diagnosed in Stage IIA of the disease have a survival rate of 92%, which may be less than other forms of breast cancer but is still better than the later stages of inflammatory breast cancer. The survival rate of patients of all stages of cancer decreases after seven years.These statistics do not include the patients who may die from inflammatory breast cancer and/or other causes related or unrelated to the disease. Accounting for about 1-3% of all breast cancers in the United States, this may not sounds like a good inflammatory breast cancer prognosis but with regular check-ups it can be detected early and give a better chance of survival.