Diagnosing inflammatory breast cancer(IBC) – pro

Mammography, MRI or ultrasound often show suspicious signs; however in a significant proportion of cases they would miss a diagnosis.Clinical presentation is typical only in 50-75% of cases; and many other conditions such as mastitis or even heart insufficiency can mimic the typical symptoms of Inflammatory Breast Cancer.Response to antibiotic treatment or steroids does not rule out presence of IBC. Therefore, a biopsy should always be pursued.
Andrea Molckovsky, MD et al, Approach to inflammatory breast cancer
Canadian Family PhysicianJanuary 2009 vol. 55 no. 1

 

Dawood S, Merajver SD, Viens P, Vermeulen PB, Swain SM, Buchholz TA, Dirix LY, Levine PH, Lucci A, Krishnamurthy S, Robertson FM, Woodward WA, Yang WT, Ueno NT, Cristofanilli M.
International expert panel on inflammatory breast cancer: consensus statement for standardized diagnosis and treatment.Ann Oncol. 2011 Mar;22(3):515-23.

NCCN.org, breast/MRI, BINV-B

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