As an aggressive form of breast cancer, inflammatory breast cancer presents unique treatment challenges. Swollen, red appearance of the breast is the symptom associated with inflammatory breast cancer. The cancer has more time to spread as diagnosis is delayed due to the fact that inflammatory breast cancer looks like a much more common breast infection known as mastitis.

The explanation for the breast becoming swollen and red is that the cancerous cells clog the lymph channels in the skin, which causes fluid to back up into the breast. Incisions will not heal appropriately when swelling is present as the surgery to remove the cancer can be delayed because of this swelling. In order to get the surgery done, chemotherapy is often used to relieve swelling by killing the cancer.

More worst is the fact that inflammatory breast cancer is more likely to spread or metastasize to the lymph nodes or other areas of the bode than other types of breast cancer before it is detected. Inflammatory breast cancer treatment frequently includes a combination of trastuzumab (Herceptin), radiation, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery as a result of its aggressive nature.