Improving The Rate Of Accurate Inflammatory Breast Cancer Diagnoses

In this episode of The Vitals, Ryan Tamargo, NP, AONCP, a nurse practitioner with the inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, talks about IBC and why it is often misdiagnosed. She discusses the launch of an online IBC Scoring System tool, which was developed through Susan G Komen, the Milburn Foundation, and the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation. According to Tamargo, this tool may prove helpful in raising awareness about this rare form of breast cancer and make it easier for primary care providers to recognize the symptoms and make the correct diagnosis.

Resource

Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) Scoring System online tool

Episode Highlights

“What can be tricky about [IBC] is that there is sometimes no mass. The symptoms can be very progressive that it can look like an infection to primary care providers or providers in the community.” Time stamp (TS) 1:48

“The tool can be really helpful in going step-by-step [through] what you're actually seeing, and then will give you a score at the end.” TS 4:00

“The best thing to prevent this [from] becoming metastatic is going to be treatment with chemotherapy as soon as possible.”

Online Articles

• Inflammatory Breast Cancer Is Often Missed, But May Now Be Easier to Diagnose
• Fast Facts for the Frontline: Inflammatory Breast Cancer
• Raising Awareness of Inflammatory Breast Cancer
• The Argument for Better Patient-Centered Care in Oncology
• USPSTF Suggests Lowering Breast Cancer Screening Age in Draft Recommendation

The Vitals Podcast Episodes

Nurse Practitioners Weigh in on Data From the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

Video Interviews

• Kara Morris and Christine Wylie on Oral Cryotherapy for Chemotherapy-Induced Mucositis in Breast Cancer
• Johanna Garibaldi On Strengthening Cancer Prevention Tactics With Mobile Screening Clinics
• Pattie Jakel Highlights the Challenges With Oral Therapies in Breast Cancer

Reference

Jagsi R, Mason G, Overmoyer BA, et al. Inflammatory breast cancer defined: proposed common diagnostic criteria to guide treatment and research. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2022;192(2):235-243. doi:10.1007/s10549-021-06434-x