Inflammatory breast cancer

What is inflammatory breast cancer?

In inflammatory breast cancer, the cancer cells often block the small lymph vessels in the breast. The lymph vessels (or lymph ducts) are part of the ​lymphatic system. They collect waste products and drain them into the veins.  

When the lymph vessels are blocked, it causes the skin to become inflamed. 

Inflammatory breast cancer is rare. Less than 5 out of 100 breast cancers (less than 5%) are inflammatory breast cancers.

Learn more about the lymphatic system

Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer

Inflammatory breast cancer symptoms can appear quite suddenly. Symptoms include:

• swelling of the breast

• redness or a change in normal skin colour

• pain

• swollen lymph nodes

• a firm or hard breast that is hot to the touch

• skin that looks like orange peel (peau d’orange)

• changes to the nipple such as flattening or an inverted nipple

• a lump in the breast

Inflammatory breast cancer is often confused with an infection of the breast (mastitis). Mastitis is common in women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Your GP might give you a course of antibiotics if they think that your symptoms could be due to mastitis. But they will refer you to a specialist if they think you are unlikely to have mastitis or if your symptoms don’t clear up after antibiotics.

While inflammatory breast cancer can cause these particular symptoms, it’s important to know the general symptoms of breast cancer. See your GP if you notice any change in the look or feel of your breasts.

Read about the general symptoms of breast cancer

Diagnosing inflammatory breast cancer

Your GP should arrange for you to go to a breast clinic to have tests if you have symptoms that could be due to inflammatory breast cancer. This is usually a one stop clinic where you have several tests during one visit.

The tests you might have include:

• breast examination

• ​mammogram​  

• breast ultrasound scan

• taking a sample of tissue from the skin in the breast or a breast lump (biopsy)

• MRI scan of the breast

• other scans such as a CT scan or PET-CT scan

Your doctor may take photos of your breast to keep in your medical records. These can be helpful to see how well you respond to treatment.

Find out more about tests to diagnose breast cancer

Treatment for inflammatory breast cancer

The type of treatment you have depends on a number of factors. This includes:

• whether your cancer cells have receptors for particular types of drugs

• your general health and whether you have any other medical conditions

Your team will discuss the pros and cons of the treatment options with you. Do ask questions so that you understand which treatments you are being offered, and why. 

Drug treatments before surgery

Drug treatment before surgery is called neo adjuvant treatment. You usually have chemotherapy. This helps to shrink the cancer. If your cancer cells have ​HER2 receptors, you might also have targeted cancer drugs such as trastuzumab (Herceptin).

Surgery

After chemotherapy with or without targeted cancer drugs, you usually have surgery. You are most likely to have your whole breast removed. This is a mastectomy. After a mastectomy, you may be able to have a breast reconstruction. You might have this as a separate operation.

Your surgeon may also remove the lymph nodes under your armpit.

Radiotherapy

After surgery, you have radiotherapy. Radiotherapy uses high energy x-rays to kill cancer cells. This helps to stop the cancer from coming back.

Hormone therapy

You have hormone therapy tablets for some years if your breast cancer has hormone receptors. The aim of hormone therapy is to lower the risk of the cancer coming back.

Find out about breast cancer treatments

Survival for inflammatory breast cancer

Inflammatory breast cancer can develop quickly and may spread to other parts of the body. So in general, the outlook for this type of cancer is worse than for other types of breast cancer. But doctors think that the outlook is improving as breast cancer treatment improves.

At the time of diagnosis, inflammatory breast cancer is either stage 3 or stage 4. In most cases, the cancer has already spread to the lymph nodes and in some people, it has already spread to other parts of the body.

We have survival information for each stage of breast cancer in the UK.

Find out about survival for breast cancer

Follow up

You have regular check ups after treatment for inflammatory breast cancer. How often you have check ups depends on your individual situation.

It’s important to remember to contact your healthcare team if you notice a new symptom or have questions between your check ups. You can also speak to your GP.

Read more about breast cancer follow up

Research and clinical trials

Researchers around the world are looking at better ways to diagnose and treat breast cancer. Ask your cancer specialist or breast specialist nurse about trials. There may be open trials at your local hospital that you can take part.

There are fewer trials specifically for inflammatory breast cancer than for more common types of breast cancer. This is because it is difficult to organise and run trials for rare cancers. For example, it can take a long time to recruit the number of people needed.

Find breast cancer trials running in the UK

Coping with inflammatory breast cancer

Coping with breast cancer can be difficult. It can be even harder to cope with a rare type of breast cancer. There is help and support available to you and your family.

Read about what you can do to cope with breast cancer