Saeed Arefanian - Department of Surgery, Washington University, St. Louis, USA
Neda Mehradad - Breast Diseases Department, Breast Cancer Research Center, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
Shahpar Haghighat - Breast Diseases Department, Breast Cancer Research Center, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
Safa Najafi - Breast Diseases Department, Breast Cancer Research Center, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
Mandana Ebrahimi - Breast Diseases Department, Breast Cancer Research Center, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
Asiie Olfatbakhsh - Breast Diseases Department, Breast Cancer Research Center, ACECR, Tehran, Iran

Background: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), a subgroup of locallyadvanced breast cancer (LABC), is diagnosed based on clinical findings, andseems to be different from other types of LABC. The purpose of this study was tocompare clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes between inflammatoryand non-inflammatory LABC patients atBreastCancerResearchCenter (BCRC),Tehran, Iran.Mehods: The medical records of all patients who were diagnosed as LABC inBCRC since ۱۹۹۷ to ۲۰۱۱ were extracted from the database. Then, clinical andpathological characteristics and overall survival of IBC patients were comparedwith non-inflammatory LABC (NI-LABC).Results:Atotal number of ۳۴۰ patients were identified as LABC from which۱۷ patients (۵%) were diagnosed as IBC. Menopausal status, body mass index(BMI), family history of breast cancer, nodal status, and Her۲/neu and PRpositivity were not statistically different between IBC and NI-LABC groups. Thedifference in estrogen receptor (ER) between the two groups was significant (P =۰.۰۲۸). Median duration of follow-up was ۲۶.۵۰ months. Patients with IBC hadoverall survival of ۲۷.۹ months (۹۵% CI: ۲۲.۷–۳۳.۱) which was lower thanpatients in the NII-LABC group with a survival of ۱۱۸.۹ months (۹۵% CI: ۱۰۷.۳-۱۳۰.۶) (P = ۰.۰۱۵). The difference between the disease-free survivals of the twogroups were also statistically significant (P< ۰.۰۰۱).Conclusions: Compared to NI-LABC, IBC is more frequently ER negativeand more commonly associated with lower survival rate. These findings reinforcethe idea that IBC has a more aggressive biology and more unfavorable outcomethanNI-LABC and needs close follow-up

Survival, clinicopathological characteristic, inflammatory breast cancer, locally advanced breast cancer