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Pickleball to Raise Research Money Breast Cancer
Very important message from the sister of a breast cancer patient who did not survive. Please take the time to read to help those who still have a chance.
My sister was diagnosed with stage 3 inflammatory breast cancer at the age of 37. She thought she had a rash on her breast, but it was cancer. My sister had 3 requests for me before she passed away on November 13, 2023. She said, “keep saving the street dogs, adopt another special needs dog for me and don’t forget me.”
Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare but very aggressive subtype of the disease, accounting for up to five percent of all breast cancers diagnosed in the U.S. Inflammatory breast cancer generally occurs in women under 40.
Today, the 5-year relative survival rate for metastatic inflammatory breast cancer is only 19%. The 5-year relative survival rate for more common metastatic breast cancer is 29%. We can and need to do better. There is a critical need for increasing our understanding of inflammatory and metastatic breast cancer and developing new ways to treat those living with the disease to help them live longer, better lives.
This past spring, I was lucky enough to have Susan Komen ask me if I would tell Cindy’s story at a conference in Florida to donors. Her story is long, but in a nutshell, she fought for 22 years. She was terminal for 12 of those years. In 2023, she ran out of treatment options at the age of 59.
Unlike other breast cancers, inflammatory breast cancer doesn’t form distinct lumps, which makes it difficult to diagnose through mammograms.
Because it’s difficult to detect, inflammatory breast cancer is often diagnosed at a locally advanced stage (usually at least stage 3) because breast cancer cells have grown into the skin. For about one-third of patients at diagnosis, their IBC is already stage 4/metastatic, having spread to distant parts of the body. This can unfortunately mean that women with IBC tend to have a worse prognosis than women with other common types of breast cancer.
As you can see, the signs and symptoms of IBC differ from other breast cancers, and researchers are focused on gaining a better understanding of the disease particularly because of its fast-growing nature and prevalence in younger woman. Please join me in the fight for other young women who are facing IBC and metastatic breast cancer.