key papersKey paper
International expert panel consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory breast cancer
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.
Overview
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.
GuidelineChanged practice
Authors
Dawood S, Merajver SD, Viens P, et al.
Published
Annals of Oncology, 2011
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.