Education is the MOST powerful tool in the fight against misdiagnosis and improper treatment of Inflammatory Breast Cancer.

Our Foundation's mission is to educate the public and the medical community when needed, that this form of breast cancer is different and is rarely picked up by mammograms.

Towards this mission, the fourth
Wednesday of the month our
radio show, called
IBC FACT & FALLACIES,
will dispel the myths and help educate our listeners.

Information

What...
Common IBC Symptoms:

  • a swollen breast
  • a painful breast
  • incessant itchy breast
  • a rash on one breast
  • a bug bite that won't go away
These symptoms may appear overnight without warning. If they do not go away with creams, ointments or antibiotics, demand that your doctor rule out IBC.

Things You need to know:
Mammograms usually don't pick up IBC because normally there is no lump that women are told to look for.

Why - Reason #1
Doctors misdiagnose Inflammatory Breast Cancer as mastitis.

Why - Reason #2
We need to push this message across the country.

Who..
Our group of dedicated advocates are, and a brief message about each one of us.

Tips:
On the top of most of the included pages of this website, you will find TIPS. These are TIPS that doctors and patients have given to people dealing with first symptoms of Inflammatory Breast Cancer, plus TIPS from patients who have gone through chemotherapy.

Medical Disclaimer

The information contained on the 'eraseibc.com' web site is presented for the purpose of educating people on Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Nothing contained on this web site should be construed nor is intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider. Should you have any health care related questions, please call or see your physician or other qualified health care provider promptly.

IBC Research

July 6, 2010

Proceedings of the First International Inflammatory Breast Cancer Conference

 

December 12, 2009

Novel detection method unmasks circulating breast cancer cells
Click image for story


July 13, 2009

Monitoring Circulating Tumor Cells With the CellSearch(R) System Can Predict Prognosis in Metastatic Breast Cancer

"One of the lead authors, Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli*, associate professor in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. "The CellSearch(R) CTC test provides an early indication about patients' disease progression and overall survival."

June 14, 2009

New York University Langone Medical Center

Researchers Identify Key Gene in Deadly Inflammatory Breast Cancer

This study was co-authored by Dr. Silvia Formenti, chair of the department of radiation oncology at NYU Langone Medical Center and the Sandra and Edward H. Meyer Professor of Radiation Oncology at NYU School of Medicine, and Dr. Paul Levine of George Washington University, who contributed tissues.

October 1 2008

(Re-printed with permission from Thomas A. Buchholz, M.D.)

Locoregional Treatment Outcomes After Multimodality Management of Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Ian J. Bristol, M.D., Wendy A. Woodward, M.D., Ph.D., Eric A. Strom, M.D., Massimo Cristofanilli, M.D., Delora Domain, B.S., S. Eva Singletary, M.D., George H. Perkins, M.D., Julia L. Oh, M.D., Tse-Kuan Yu, M.D., Ph.D., Welela Terrefe, M.D., Aysegul A. Sahin, M.D., Kelly K. Hunt, M.D., Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, M.D., Thomas A. Buchholz, M.D.

Purpose

The aims of this study were to determine outcomes for patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) treated with multimodality therapy, to identify factors associated with locoregional recurrence, and to determine which patients may benefit from radiation dose escalation.

Methods and Materials

We retrospectively reviewed 256 consecutive patients with nonmetastatic IBC treated at our institution between 1977 and 2004.

Results

The 192 patients who were able to complete the planned course of chemotherapy, mastectomy, and postmastectomy radiation had significantly better outcomes than the 64 patients who did not. The respective 5-year outcome rates were: locoregional control (84% vs. 51%), distant metastasis–free survival (47% vs. 20%), and overall survival (51% vs. 24%) (p < 0.0001 for all comparisons). Univariate factors significantly associated with locoregional control in the patients who completed plan treatment were response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgical margin status, number of involved lymph nodes, and use of taxanes. Increasing the total chest-wall dose of postmastectomy radiation from 60 Gy to 66 Gy significantly improved locoregional control for patients who experienced less than a partial response to chemotherapy, patients with positive, close, or unknown margins, and patients < 45 years of age.

Conclusions

Patients with IBC who are able to complete treatment with chemotherapy, mastectomy, and postmastectomy radiation have a high probability of locoregional control. Escalation of postmastectomy radiation dose to 66 Gy appears to benefit patients with disease that responds poorly to chemotherapy, those with positive, close, or unknown margin status, and those < 45 years of age.

March 15, 2008

Breast cancer more aggressive among obese women, states a new study. Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli, Co-director of the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Clinic at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston Texas, and his colleagues observed 606 women in this study, which was published in the March 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

March 10, 2008

Presented at NCCN Separate Treatment Algorithm Created for Inflammatory Breast Cancer

January 24, 2008

NCCN Updates Breast Cancer Guidelines A new section focusing on the treatment of patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) has been added.