Triple Negative Breast Cancer, "I Won't Back Down!": Now An Angel, Marie Anello-Algeri Educated Of Her Illness, Inflammatory Breast Cancer- "I Never Heard Of IBC Before Being Diagnosed And Always Assumed Breast Cancer Only Presented Itself With Lump."

What is TNBC

WHAT IS TRIPLE NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER?

Just in recent years, Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) has sparked interest in the news where instead of calling the tumor as ER-negative, PR-negative, and HER2-negative; researchers began using the shorthand term, "Triple Negative," dubbed the "new type" of breast cancer. Being Triple Negative, you don't have a targeted therapy and your only treatment option is chemotherapy.

Triple Negative Breast Cancer is seen in about 15% of all breast cancers. TNBC is a very aggressive cancer that tends to strike younger women, pre-menopause, especially among African-American women and women who have BRCA1 mutations. The tumor tends to be fast growing and is less likely to show up on an annual mammogram. TNBC is more likely to metastasis early on; has a high rate of recurrence in the first 2-3 years from diagnosis and has a poorer prognosis than other types of breast cancer due to lack of specific, targeted treatment for TNBC.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Now An Angel, Marie Anello-Algeri Educated Of Her Illness, Inflammatory Breast Cancer- "I Never Heard Of IBC Before Being Diagnosed And Always Assumed Breast Cancer Only Presented Itself With Lump."

"A tiny flower, lent not given,
to bud on earth and bloom in heaven."

Friends, though absent, are still present.

Shortly before Christmas, It took me by surprise that a dear breast cancer friend, Marie Anello-Algeri's health has a taken a turn and was receiving Hospice Care. I knew for at least a year that Marie was stage 4 but never really had spoken much of her illness for she was always so upbeat and joked often with us in our online group. Marie had Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) that has spread to her brain believed to be a Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). Hearing of Marie's passing the day after Christmas, December 26, 2012 at age 42, heartbreaking... Been feeling the sadness among us TNBC sisters in our online support group. Marie was a one-of-a-kind very sweet, beautiful and caring woman and a mother who hurts leaving her 4 children behind. May your memory lives on within our hearts, and may God Bless your Children as you shine down upon them. No more worries, no more treatments, no more pain... just peace I pray for you, Marie. I will treasure the kindness and thoughtfulness that Marie had shown in our friendship. I feel a need to bring more awareness to Marie's original diagnosis of Inflammatory Breast Cancer.

"no lump, still cancer" ~Terry Lynn Arnold

Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare and very aggressive disease in which cancer cells block lymph vessels in the skin of the breast. This type of breast cancer is called “inflammatory” because the breast often looks swollen and red, or “inflamed.”
Inflammatory breast cancer accounts for 1 to 5 percent of all breast cancers diagnosed in the United States. Most inflammatory breast cancers are invasive ductal carcinomas, which means they developed from cells that line the milk ducts of the breast and then spread beyond the ducts.
Inflammatory breast cancer progresses rapidly, often in a matter of weeks or months. Inflammatory breast cancer is either stage III or IV at diagnosis, depending on whether cancer cells have spread only to nearby lymph nodes or to other tissues as well.

Signs and symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer include:

Rapid change in the appearance of one breast, over the course of several weeks
Thickness, heaviness or visible enlargement of one breast
Discoloration, giving the breast a red, purple, pink or bruised appearance
Unusual warmth of the affected breast
Dimpling or ridges on the skin of the affected breast, similar to an orange peel
Tenderness, pain or aching
Enlarged lymph nodes under the arm, above the collarbone or below the collarbone
Flattening or turning inward of the nipple

Inflammatory breast cancer doesn't commonly form a lump, as occurs with other forms of breast cancer.

* Inflammatory breast tumors are frequently hormone receptor negative, which means that hormone therapies, such as tamoxifen, that interfere with the growth of cancer cells fueled by estrogen may not be effective against these tumors.

* A disproportionately higher percentage of IBC patients have triple-negative breast cancer. From a study of 144 patients diagnosed with IBC at MD Anderson, 36% were TN IBC.

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/21/3/564.1.abstract

For more information on Inflammatory breast cancer, please follow this link, no lump-still cancer www.theibcnetwork.org Terry Lynn Arnold, founder, The IBC Network-Inflammatory Breast Cancer Network

dx Triple Negative Inflammatory Breast Cancer, summer 2007

"Perhaps they are not stars,
but openings in heaven,
where the love of our lost ones
pours through and shines down upon us,
to let us know they are happy."

"Important for people to know any change in your breast should be reported to your doctor and have IBC ruled out. I only had very slight swelling, barely noticable and was diagnosed at stage IV. Awareness is key, I never heard of IBC before being diagnosed and always assumed breast cancer only presented itself with lump." ~ Marie Anello-Algeri