Multidisciplinary treatment with anthracyclines in inflammatory breast cancer

Twenty-two patients with inflammatory breast cancer treated between 1962 and 1994 were analyzed. Before the introduction of multidisciplinary treatment with anthracycline agents between 1962 and 1981, 11 patients out of 14 were resected, however, a curative operation was performed for only 3 of these patients (29.3%). Ablative endocrine therapy, intraarterial infusion of anticancer drugs (mitomycin C or 5-fluorouracil), and radiation were carried out as the preoperative induction therapy for inflammatory breast cancer. All 14 patients died within 36 months. After the introduction of multi-disciplinary treatment with anthracycline agents between 1981 and 1994, preoperative induction chemotherapy or chemoendocrine therapy using anthracyclines was carried out on 7 out of 8 patients and the remaining patient received radiation. Of the former 7 patients, 6 (85.7%) underwent a curative operation. There was approximately a 35 percent cumulative survival rate observed 60 months after operation, and 3 patients out of the 7 lived for more than 5 years. To conclude, multidisciplinary treatment including systemic induction chemotherapy with anthracyclines was an effective treatment for inflammatory breast cancer.