Inflammatory Breast Cancer

What you need to know about this rare disease

His support made all the difference—Lori Piltz says she couldn’t have made it through inflammatory breast cancer without the loving support of her husband, Mike. The two are rediscovering their love of travel, but Lori finds that “even ordinary life seems precious now.”

Lori Piltz, R.N., had just had her annual obstetrician/ gynecologist exam and was conscientious about breast self-exams. Then the 36-year-old Allentown woman felt a large, painful mass in her breast and noticed the skin was pinker than usual. Thinking it was a bruise or pulled muscle, she ignored it for a few weeks—but grew more concerned when the pain didn’t go away. Piltz consulted a surgeon and received a needle biopsy, mammogram and ultrasound. Soon afterward, she was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC).

“IBC is a rare and aggressive type of breast cancer,” says Aaron Bleznak, M.D., surgical oncologist at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. It’s caused by cancer cells blocking the lymphatic system in the breast. Because the system can’t drain fluids properly, the breast becomes inflamed (red) and swollen and may feel warm. Other symptoms are thickened skin, dimpled skin texture (like an orange), itching, pain or soreness. There may be a mass or an area of firm tissue, but not always. “If you have any of these symptoms, talk to your doctor about seeing a breast surgeon as soon as possible,” Bleznak says.

Piltz used Lehigh Valley Hospital’s Breast Cancer Consultative (second-opinion) Service to help her understand the disease and its treatment. The team of specialists recommended that she immediately begin chemotherapy to kill any cancer cells throughout her body and shrink the cancer in her breast and skin. This would make the next step—a mastectomy— easier and more effective.

After her surgery, Piltz had radiation treatments to kill any lingering cancer cells at the site of the mastectomy. Her total treatment took about nine months.

She’s now returned to her job at Lehigh Valley Hospital and is considering breast reconstruction. “I’m lucky to be alive, because this cancer grows so quickly,” Piltz says. “I’m glad I didn’t wait longer to see my doctor.”

Thanks to earlier detection and multiplemodality treatment (a combination of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation), IBC survival rates are improving every year, Bleznak says. Piltz is optimistic and hopeful. “I learned so much from this experience,” she says. “I look for something positive in every day, and am grateful I’m here to enjoy it.”

Want to Know More about the Breast Cancer Consultative Service? Call 610-402-CARE.

Published from Healthy You Magazine, September-October 2007

ARTICLE TOOLS: