There Won't Always Be a Lump

Have you heard about a rare form of breast cancer that goes undetected by breast exams and even mammograms? Did you know that this cancer accounts for 2%-5% of all cases of diagnosed breast cancer but that it accounts for 25% of breast cancer related deaths because the diagnosis came too late?

Dear readers, the cancer I'm referring to is called Inflammatory Breast Cancer or IBC. It is the fastest growing breast cancer and it claims so many lives each year. The worst part is that nothing that you know about breast cancer prepares you for IBC; You're not going to find a lump.

The general rule of thumb for breast cancer survivability is early detection, ideally before any symptoms are noticed. Sadly, this isn't the case for IBC, because most of the time, symptoms are what leads to it's diagnosis.

The problem with IBC is that it's symptoms mimic and are often confused with much more commom ailments such as mastitis or infection. And while your doctors attempt to treat these other problems, critical time is lost and the real treatment is delayed.

Here's the lowdown on IBC:


Signs/Symptoms:

• Swelling and tenderness
• Itching and unusual warmth
• Inverted nipple
• Crusted or dimpled skin on the breast or nipple
• Enlarged lymph nodes
• Discoloration

Treatment

• The first line of defense against IBC is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is done to limit the growth of this fast growing cancer and hopefully kill it. Once chemotherapy is complete, "a mastectomy with lymph node removal is the preferred surgery. Unfortunately, since there isn’t usually a lump and since the cancer is in the skin, a lumpectomy is not possible." (HealthCentral.com)
  

Prognosis:

• With treatment, the five-year survival rate of IBC is roughly 50% while the ten-year survival rate is only about 30%.

What disturbs me the most is the lack of information available on this deadly disease. It took a lot of searching to turn up even the most basic of statistics, most of which are outdated. Right now, the most important thing is to get awareness out there. If you suspect that anything is wrong with your breasts, toss out the possibility of breast cancer to your doctor. It may not be breast cancer, but at least you will know for sure.

Here is an amazing video about IBC

Note: The table image and the quote are both from the book Inflammatory Breast Cancer: A Breast Disease Book by G. Owen Johnson.

Breast Cancer Prevention

While there is no absolute way of preventing it, early detection is the key goal to surviving breast cancer. By detecting breast cancer early on, you have many more treatment options, and a greater prognosis, than someone who discovers it later on.


So, how do I detect breast cancer early?

Mammograms and Breast Self-Exams are the primary means of detecting breast cancer and other non-cancerous tumors.

Mammograms are a type of x-ray, in which images are taken of the breast to determine if any abnormalities exist inside the tissue of the breast. They are not 100% reliable and so, it is best to use a combination of yearly mammograms, clinical breast exams, and breast self-exams. Check out Radiologyinfo for more specifics on mammograms.

Clinical breast exams and breast self-exams are very similar, except that the former is done by your doctor, and the latter is done by you. These exams are used to detect lumps or other abnormalities that might be present in the breast. Check out the following links for useful information on both self and clinical breast exams.

How to Do a Breast Self-Exam - a thorough walk-through of a self-exam.
What's a Clinical Breast Exam? - a description of what you might experience at your doctor's office.
How to prepare for Your Mammogram - things you should do the day of your mammogram.

Why is Early Detection So Important?

Early detection is vitally important for one main reason: early detection means early treatment. This means that the sooner you are able to receive treatment for your breast cancer, the less likely it will have a chance to spread to other areas of your body, such as the lymph nodes. If cancer can be detected before it has a chance to spread, not only will treatment be simpler, your likelihood of survival is dramatically increased.

So, check out those links above and if you haven't, go ahead and do your monthly self-exam today. There is no time like the present.