Clinical aspects of inflammatory breast cancer

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), accounting for 1-5% of all breast cancers, is the most aggressive form of breast cancer. Its biologically aggressive nature is identified by the rapid time to progression, its tendency to affect younger women, the high proportion of local and distant metastases present at diagnosis, and lower overall survival despite the use of multimodality therapy. With epidemiologic and molecular evidence now suggesting that IBC may represent a distinct disease entity rather than part of the spectrum of locally advanced breast cancer (LABC), accurate differentiation of these two disease processes has never been more crucial to ensure appropriate treatment. This review addresses the historical milestones and clinical characteristics involved in the differentiation of IBC and briefly discusses the emerging molecular data that may facilitate the distinction of IBC from LABC.