Alternative Health and Wellness Articles: Inflammatory Breast Cancer

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General Health

Inflammatory Breast Cancer - Silent, Mis-Diagnosed, Deadly
by LeeAnn Rahn

What is Inflammatory Breast Cancer?

Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC), also referred to as Inflammatory Breast Carcinoma, is the most aggressive form of primary breast cancer. Though relatively rare (1% to 10.1% [6]), it is life threatening for those who find themselves within its grip. Of those diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer, 50% to 70% [3,4] do not live 5 years beyond diagnosis. Unfortunately, monthly lump examinations, mammograms, nor ultra sounds will protect you here.

Why? Inflammatory Breast Cancer does not generally present itself as a solid mass or lump. IBC normally forms "sheets" or "nests" of cancer within the breast, blocking the lymphatic system just under the skin, and many times spreads throughout the breast and the lymphatic system (or further) before it is ever diagnosed. The initial signs and symptoms, also, vary widely amongst those afflicted.

To make things worse, Inflammatory Breast Cancer could care less if you are in your teens or in your 90's and is many times mis-diagnosed, especially in young women who are normally at a lower risk of breast cancer. IBC has been diagnosed as young as 12 years of age, during pregnancy/lactation, and during pre-menopause, peri-menopause, and post-menopause. Diagnosis in males is rare but there are several documented cases.

Inflammatory Breast Cancer Symptoms

Inflammatory Breast Cancer symptoms can vary widely. Some afflicted with IBC will exhibit many symptoms while others may exhibit few. The most common symptoms include:

Breast Swelling - sometimes as much as a cup size in a few days.
Itching
Breast Discoloration - appears red, pink, or purple. May appear to to bruised.
Skin has ridges, thickened areas, or dimpled appearance.
Breast tenderness, pain, or unusual warmth.
Nipples are flat or inverted, with or without discharge and/or crusted skin..
Change in color or texture of areola (area around nipple).
Breast is harder or firmer than normal.
Enlarged lymph nodes under the arm or above/under collarbone.

It is important to remember Inflammatory Breast Cancer is not widely understood at this point in time. The symptoms vary widely from person to person. Symptoms may appear, disappear, and reappear again multiple times as well.

Inflammatory Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Inflammatory Breast Cancer progresses rapidly and is generally not diagnosed until it is in Stage III or Stage IV (stage IV is the most severe cancer stage and is usually associated with metastases - the spread of cancer to other locations in the body). If you have any symptoms, please see a medical practitioner immediately.

Please do not worry yourself unnecessarily though and hastily assume you have IBC. The symptoms of mastitis (a breast infection) are very similar to those of Inflammatory Breast Cancer as are symptoms of other edema's caused by lymphatic blockage. BUT, if the symptoms of mastitis, which is treated with antibiotics, or any other edema type blockages, do not clear up within a week INSIST on an MRI, biopsy, or referral to a breast cancer specialist.

Because the symptoms are very similar to a breast infection, the doctor may not even consider cancer as a likely possibility. Many mis-diagnosis (besides mastitis) have been given to women with IBC. These include spider bites, shingles, allergic reactions to detergents, irritation from bra underwires, fatty necrosis, and many others.

This is the point where you need to muster up every ounce of courage and take responsibility for your own life. Stand up to your doctor if he/she is not being cooperative or find another doctor immediately. If you do have inflammatory breast cancer, the sooner a diagnosis is made the better your chances are of living through the ordeal. If you still have symptoms after a negative biopsy or MRI and just know something is wrong, have the biopsy and MRI done again by a different doctor. Biopsies are not fool proof. If an IBC tissue sample is not take from just the right spot, your test may be negative.

Treatment of Inflammatory Breast Cancer

The standard, Western Medicine, approach to Inflammatory Breast Cancer is immediate chemotherapy or systemic therapy to reduce the swelling and bring the skin back to a healthier state. The next step is generally a mastectomy (removal of the affected breast) followed by radiation to kill any remaining cancer cells and reduce the chances of a reoccurrence in the same location. Unfortunately, even with this aggressive treatment, reoccurrence is quite common.

Before you read this next section, you need to understand I do not agree with traditional Western Medicine. Chemotherapy and radiation are both very toxic to your body and cause cancer themselves. I am sure you have heard the saying, "if the cancer doesn't kill you the chemo will".   Unfortunately, because of the rapid progression of Inflammatory Breast Cancer, most patients are treated via traditional Western Medicine. Though, many people do use non-traditional methods to cure many other types of cancer with just as good or better rates of success.

For this article, I am going to make the suggestion to use a complimentary process - A process you can do while receiving treatment via traditional Western Medicine. First and foremost, if you do not understand how pH affects your body you need to get educated. We have a four-part series on this site (www.yourwellnessoptions.com) beginning with A Different Point of View. If you are not more than familiar with pH, please read all four articles and keep an open mind. A proper pH could mean the difference between life and death.

Once you understand pH a bit better, my suggestion is you adjust your diet to include mostly alkaline foods. This will not be easy! You will be cutting out just about everything but fruits and vegetables. Alkaline blood carries more oxygen and cancer does not do well in the presence of oxygen. If you have Inflammatory Breast Cancer or any other type of illness, please discuss any change in diet with your doctor first. If your doctor dismisses you or the fact that pH and diet can have an impact on your health, it may be time to find a new doctor who is better versed on nutrition.

Next, you should make sure you are asleep by 10:00 pm. every night and sleep in total darkness. Research has shown exposure to light during sleeping hours can shut off the production of melatonin. The hormone melatonin boosts the immune system and has been shown to slow the growth of cancer tumors by as much as 80%. I guess you can say the melatonin helps the tumors sleep at night as well. These research findings shed some light on why evening/night shift workers have a 60% better chance of being diagnosed with cancer.

Diet, sleep, and now sunlight. You also need to get plenty of natural sunlight. Use common sense though - do not allow your skin to burn (no sunscreen allowed)! The UVB rays are necessary for the body's production of Vitamin D. No worries about toxicity here - your body can control the amount of Vitamin D it produces. The darker your skin, the longer you will need to be exposed to the sun to benefit. In fact, those with darker skin are much more likely to be Vitamin D deficient.

The natural Vitamin D your body produces from the UVB rays is vital to the process of turning an acidic body into an alkaline one. If it is winter time, not enough UVB will reach most regions (the further away from the equator the less UVB you will receive). During these times, I suggest a high quality cod liver oil with Vitamin D be taken. You need to be aware of your Vitamin D level though. If you are in question as to whether your body has proper levels of Vitamin D, have it checked. If possible stay away from synthetic Vitamin D, it can be very toxic at much lower levels.

I would like to end this article with a quote from the third article in our pH series Disease and pH - Acidosis Part III. "Research has proven that terminal cancer patients have an acidity level of 1,000 times more than healthy people." [1]

References
1. pH, Dr.Lam - An Insiders Guide to Natural Medicine, http://www.drlam.com/opinion/ph.cfm
2. Inflammatory Breast Cancer Help Website, http://www.ibchelp.org
3. New Hope for Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Rare but Fast Growing, Karen Berney,
     Discovery Health Channel,
   http://health.discovery.com/comvergence/breasthealth/ibc/ibc_print.html
4. Inflammatory Breast Cancer, Mayo Clinic,
   http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/inflammatory-breast-cancer/DS00632
5. Inflammatory Breast Cancer, IBC Research, www.ibcresearch.org
6. Update on the Management of Inflammatory Breast Cancer, Massimo Cristofanilli,
     Aman U. Buzdar, Gabriel N. Hortobagy, The Oncologist,
   http://theoncologist.alphamedpress.org/cgi/reprint/8/2/141.pdf
7. Groundbreaking research findings shows that exposure to light during sleep promotes
   breast cancer while darkness prevents growth of tumors,
     www.newstarget.com/z019426.html

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