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| Tuesday, June 19, 2001 8:49 AM CDT | () comments

QUAD-CITY TIMES

Linda Neese

Educate your family on threat

of inflammatory breast cancer

My reason for writing this letter is to make others aware of a life-threatening and most accelerated form of breast cancer known as inflammatory breast cancer.

My wish is for others to take an aggressive approach and stand up for their own health and well being. I lost my mother to this terrible disease. No one in my family had been aware of this aggressive type of breast cancer nor its symptoms.

Having a sister who is an 8-year survivor of breast cancer, we were fairly informed of our own breast health and common treatment but still had no information on inflammatory breast cancer, or IBC.

Mom was diagnosed in April 1999, after having a rash, and we lost her eight months later. She was only 65 years old.

I understood IBC was different than most breast cancers but not aware of how difficult it was to treat and how quickly it metastasizes and that when diagnosed it is already well progressed.

When our mother grew weaker and right numbers were not coming up on her blood tests, she went to the hospital. They really checked things out again and found the cancer had spread to her liver. We lost her just a few days later.

We were not prepared for the results of this horrendous disease. Many family physicians will rarely see cases of IBC in their career, so they don't have a lot of experience in the signs and symptoms. Treatment is unfortunately and commonly delayed because the disease appears as a rash in the breast area and may be mistaken and treated for mastitis, a benign breast infection. It may also be delayed because of a doctor's assumption that "IBC is so rare, I'm sure you don't have it."

Unless there is a defined tumor, the disease may not reveal itself in a normal mammogram and/or ultrasound. It spreads rapidly, and if treatment is not given quickly and effectively, it is often fatal.

I would hope anyone experiencing this disease chooses their care facility not just on convenience but also for overall promptness of care. Never hesitate to seek a second opinion.

Mom's treatment started with a few chemotherapy treatments, and then surgery was planned, the first and most important protocol for IBC. We then experienced a difficulty found in many smaller medical centers � the wait for surgery or test results. It was a month from the last chemo treatment to surgery. I guess it was vacation season for the doctors.

After surgery, it was another month before radiation was started. For a disease that spreads so rapidly, I don't think smaller cancer centers are conscientious of how aggressive this disease is.

Some of the key symptoms to look for, as listed by the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation:

n Change in breast texture; skin is red or appears dimpled like an orange.

Increase in breast size over a short period of time.

Change in nipple, becomes flattened or retracted, with or without a discharge.

Breast area becomes itchy over an extended period of time. Rash ointment and creams give no relief. Changing laundry detergent or bra size doesn't help.

Pain in the breast.

Swollen lymph nodes under the arm or above the collarbone.

A lump may or may not be present.

More extensive information is available on the Internet. A primary source is the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation that can be found at http://www.ibcresearch.org and http://www.breastcancerorg.net. The toll free number is 1-877-786-7422.

(Linda Neese is a resident of Davenport.)