[Radiotherapy for post-operative inflammatory breast cancer]

Two patients with inflammatory breast cancer treated with a combination of radical mastectomy, irradiation, and immunochemotherapy are reported. After radical mastectomy, both patients were given a dose of 4000 rad and 5000 rad to the chest wall and parasternal lymph nodes, and 5000 rad to the axillary and supraclavicular lymph nodes. However, both patients died of recurrence within the irradiated field of the chest wall and metastatic spread to the neighbouring skin. A discussion on the dose and field in radiation therapy for inflammatory breast cancer is presented.