Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Inflammatory breast cancer is rare, with symptoms similar to a more common condition — breast infections (mastitis). Your healthcare provider may prescribe antibiotics and see if it resolves your symptoms to rule out an infection. If they suspect IBC, they’ll order a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis and additional tests to see if the cancer’s spread beyond your breast.

Diagnosing inflammatory breast cancer (IBC)

Diagnosis involves a physical examination, imaging studies and a biopsy.

• Physical exam: Lumps don’t usually form with inflammatory breast cancer, making the condition hard to diagnose. In some cases, your healthcare provider may rule out conditions that may cause similar changes to your breast’s appearance, like mastitis.
• Imaging: A mammogram uses low-energy X-rays to create a picture of the inside of your breast. Mammograms allow your healthcare provider to look for signs of breast cancer, like lumps, breast calcifications or skin thickening. Breast ultrasounds use sound waves to create pictures of the inside of your breasts, nearby tissue and lymph nodes. Ultrasounds allow your provider to see if cancer from your breast has spread to nearby tissue. Unfortunately, IBC and breast infections often look similar on imaging.
• Biopsy: A biopsy is the only way to confirm an IBC diagnosis. During a biopsy, your healthcare provider removes a tissue sample from your breast. A specialist called a pathologist tests the sample in a lab to see if it’s cancer. Biopsy results also help your provider discover whether specific targeted therapies or drugs may be effective treatments for your cancer.

Staging inflammatory breast cancer (IBC)

Biopsy results can help your healthcare provider stage the cancer, or determine whether it’s spread outside of your breast tissue. By the time IBC is diagnosed, it’s either stage III or stage IV. Stage III cancer has only spread to your breast tissue skin. Stage IV cancer has spread to other organs.

Your healthcare provider may order any of the following tests to determine if your cancer’s spread:

• Computed tomography (CT scan): A CT scan takes several X-rays of your chest, abdomen and pelvis and compiles them into a single image. This image allows your healthcare provider to look for signs of cancer in bones and soft tissue.
• Bone scan: A bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive substance to provide images of your bones. These images can show parts of your bone that have been damaged, potentially due to cancer spread.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): An MRI uses radio waves, magnets and a computer to create detailed images of the inside of your body.
• Positron emission tomography (PET scan): A PET scan uses dye containing radioactive drugs (tracers) to create an image of internal structures in your body.