Breast Cancer Advice Center

What is inflammatory breast cancer?

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1. IBC, a rare but very aggressive type of breast cancer, in which the lymph vessels in the skin of the breast are blocked by cancer cells. It is called "inflammatory" because the breast often looks swollen and red, or "inflamed" IBC accounts for 1 to 5 percent of all breast cancer cases in the United States.
2. It’s a rare form of breast cancer, only 1-2% of all breast cancers are inflammatory breast cancer. It's so called because the overlying skin of the breast has a reddened appearance, which is caused by breast cancer cells blocking tiny channels in the breast tissue called lymph channels.
   
   The most common symptoms are a warmth, redness or swelling of the breast that may feel sore. Ridges may appear on the skin, or the breast may appear pitted like the skin of an orange.
   
   As with other forms of breast cancer, some women may find a lump, while others experience pain in the breast or nipple. Some may have a nipple discharge or inverted nipple.
   It can be difficult to diagnose because symptoms can be similar to non-cancerous conditions such as mastitis.
   
   It can grow more quickly than other types of breast cancer so there is a stronger possibility that cancer cells may spread to other parts of the body.