Inflammatory breast cancer: 38 cases clinical report

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a special form of rapidly progressive breast cancer with poor prognosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical characters, treatment, and prognosis of inflammatory breast cancer. METHODS: Thirty-eight patients with inflammatory breast cancer who were diagnosed and treated from March 20, 1970 to December 21, 2001 in our hospital were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: All IBC patients presented clinically with an erythematous or swollen and tender breast, no fever. The mean age of 38 patients was 45 years old. Twenty-four patients were in stage III b and 14 in stage IV. Eighteen patients received local treatment (radiotherapy or surgery) firstly and 20 patients underwent chemotherapy firstly. Median survival was 17 months. The 1 year and the 5 year survival rates were 57.7% and 14.0%, respectively. The administration of chemotherapy first improved the outcome of IBC. Earlier stage showed more favorable prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Combination therapy with chemotherapy first was an effective treatment for IBC.