# International expert panel consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory breast cancer

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-dawood-inflammatory-breast-consensus-ann-oncol-2011/  
OnCo record `paper-dawood-inflammatory-breast-consensus-ann-oncol-2011` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

This consensus statement standardised how inflammatory breast cancer is diagnosed, with rapid onset of breast redness and swelling involving at least a third of the breast, and set out its trimodality treatment.

## Summary

Consensus from an international expert panel defining the clinical diagnostic criteria for inflammatory breast cancer, recommended staging, the requirement for biopsy confirmation, and treatment with neoadjuvant systemic therapy followed by modified radical mastectomy and post-mastectomy radiotherapy, with HER2-directed therapy where appropriate.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Journal: Annals of Oncology
- Year: 2011
- DOI: 10.1093/annonc/mdq345
- Authors: Dawood S, Merajver SD, Viens P, et al.
- What it means: The definition used in trials and clinics, and the insistence on systemic therapy first and mastectomy rather than breast conservation, come from this document.
- Caveats: Diagnosis remains clinical and subjective; molecular definitions are still lacking.

## Sources

- Ann Oncol 2011: https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdq345
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20603440/

## Connected records

- cancers: [Inflammatory breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/inflammatory-breast-cancer/)
- journals: [Annals of Oncology](https://onco.cc/journals/annals-of-oncology/)

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