What are the stages of inflammatory breast cancer?
Inflammatory breast cancer is usually classified as Stage III cancer. If it has spread to the lymphatic system or other organs of the body, it is classified as Stage IV, or advanced, breast cancer. How is inflammatory breast cancer treated? Once a diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer is confirmed by a biopsy, further testing may be done to see whether the cancer has spread beyond the breast. Treatment usually consists of chemotherapy, to control the spread of cancer throughout the body’s lymphatic system, followed by surgery to remove the breast (mastectomy) and radiation of the chest wall. Chemotherapy or estrogen blockers may also be given after surgery to destroy any cancer cells that may have spread to other parts of the body. Women whose cancers are HER2-positive may also be treated with Herceptin, a type of systemic therapy known as a monoclonal antibody that targets specific proteins on the cancer cells. What should a woman do if she suspects she might have inflammatory breas
