title: Defining the clinical diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer.
abstract: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is an extremely aggressive disease that progresses rapidly and carries a very grim prognosis. It is characterized by erythema, rapid enlargement of the breast, skin ridging, and a characteristic peau d'orange appearance of the skin secondary to dermal lymphatic tumor involvement. Although a palpable tumor may not be present, about 55% to 85% of patients will present with metastases to the axillary or supraclavicular lymph nodes. Diagnosis of IBC is made on the basis of these clinical characteristics, as well as histopathologic verification of carcinoma. Accurate diagnosis is critically important, as multimodal therapy can significantly improve outcomes if instituted early enough.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030, USA. esinglet@mdanderson.org
authors.forename: S Eva
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Singletary
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cristofanilli
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001706:Biopsy; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D010808:Physical Examination