Women
Learning How To Save More Women's Lives
By
Mar 9, 2007, 20:49

(NAPSI)-More women are learning the facts about diagnosing a potentially fatal kind of breast cancer that even a mammogram can miss.

More than 200,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. each year, and about 6 percent of all invasive breast cancer cases involve a condition called inflammatory breast cancer (IBC).

IBC is the most aggressive form of breast cancer and often goes undiagnosed since it may not present as a lump or mass and isn't usually detected by mammograms or ultrasounds. IBC is seldom detected by patients, often misdiagnosed by doctors and misunderstood by researchers.

Recognizing Symptoms

Often misdiagnosed as an infection or skin irritation, IBC may first appear as a rash on the breast and is sometimes ineffectively treated with antibiotics and antifungal medication. By recognizing these symptoms early, there is a greater chance for accurate diagnosis, treatment and better outcomes:

• One breast rapidly becomes larger than the other

• Breast has a rash, redness or blotchiness

• Breast and/or nipple persistently itches

• Lump or thickening of breast tissue

• Sharp pain and/or soreness of breast

• Breast is warm to the touch or feverish

• Swelling of lymph nodes under the arm or above the collarbone

• Dimpling of the breast that may look like the skin of an orange

• Flattening or retracting of nipple

• Color of the areola (the dark skin around the nipple) changes.

Contact your doctor immediately if you detect any of these symptoms.

MRI for Accurate Diagnosis

Recent studies suggest that the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, such as the Vantage™ MRI system from Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc., can more accurately identify the disease before it progresses. An MRI scan uses magnetism, radio waves and a computer to detect biological changes and shifts in the soft breast tissue-versus ultrasound or mammogram, which look for changes in density, like a lump or fibrous mass, or hard tissue.

Treatment Options

IBC requires immediate, aggressive treatment and often consists of multiple rounds of chemotherapy, hormone therapy or both.

Your physician can provide more information about sources of help, screening options and support.

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