Inflammatory breast cancer is especially deadly because it often goes undetected due to the lack of symptoms that women usually experience.
The survey, which was conducted online among 1,100 US women ages 18 and older, revealed that while 4 in 5 women (78 percent) recognize a lump in the breast as a sign of breast cancer.
What is Inflammatory Breast Cancer
Less than half of women would flag redness of the breast (44 percent), pitting/thickening of the skin (44 percent), or one breast feeling warmer or heavier than the other (34 percent) as possible symptoms of breast cancer; specifically, the rare and highly aggressive form of the disease known as inflammatory breast cancer.
The disease can occur in any part of the breast and in any molecular sub-form of the disease. It is often misdiagnosed because it mimics symptoms similar to a breast infection.
Those signs include an orange peel-like texture or dimpling of skin; feeling of heaviness; tightening of the skin; engorgement of the breast; and infection-like redness.
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Park noted that even in the medical community, physicians and providers are not accustomed to thinking about a red breast as a sign associated with inflammatory breast cancer because it is such a rare disease.
“It is critical that clinicians have a high level of familiarity with its subtle signs and be prepared to take immediate action to avoid belated diagnosis,” Park added.
Source: IANS
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