Inflammatory carcinoma is a clinical diagnosis: The patient presents with 
what looks like cellulitis of the skin of the breast - the area that looks 
inflammatory is deep red and very well demarcated, just like bacterial cellulitis.

The redness is the result of invasion of lymphatics in the dermis by an 
underlying breast cancer. Just seeing dermal lymphatic invasion microscopically 
isn't enough - the clinical presentation is required to make the diagnosis.

Inflammatory carcinoma has an extremely bad prognosis. Until just a few years 
ago, all patients presenting with inflammatory carcinoma died of cancer very 
rapidly. I think that now a few patients survive it, but I don't have any 
numbers.

Bob Richmond
Knoxville TN and Gastonia NC
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