Massimo Cristofanilli, M.D.
Associate professor, Breast
Medical Oncology
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer
Center
Dr. Cristofanilli: I'm Doctor Massimo Christofanilli, Associate Professor of Breast Medical Oncology, and founder of the Morgan Welch Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Program and Clinic at The M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. This is the only clinic in the world solely dedicated to treating and studying inflammatory breast cancer or IBC. The purpose of this series of professional educational programs is to share with you some of the latest information about this complex disease, so that then you can recognize it early and take the appropriate action when you see a patient who may have this devastating disease.
Inflammatory breast cancer is an extremely aggressive disease. One of the major difficulties in effectively treating IBC is that it is difficult to recognize by the symptoms. Comprehensive baseline assessment and timely initiation of appropriate therapy is essential. Moreover, it is important to have the opportunity to access new investigational agents and new therapies, because the prognosis of patients with IBC has only marginally improved with standard therapies over the last 10 to 15 years. Therefore, we believe that initial referral to a tertiary center maybe imperative for such a complex disease. This approach will assure early definitive diagnosis by a complete diagnostic work up that also requires imaging, such as MRI and PET CT. PET CT and MRI can also be used for monitoring the course of the disease during therapy. Furthermore, a multidisciplinary team of experienced clinicians available at tertiary centers may significantly improve the prognosis of these patients.
These clinicians are able to address local therapy in the form of surgery, irradiation therapy, systemic therapy, and provide the best up to date investigational agents that may be superior to chemotherapy. We see several major problems in patients who were referred to us. Often they have been started on a combination of sequence of standard treatment that will be indicated for breast cancer, but may not be appropriate treatment for IBC. And, thus, they have not achieved optimum clinical response. Others have received insufficient local and systemic treatment, and now have developed local recurrence or distant metastatic disease, finding themselves already symptomatic, and [they] have been exposed to several chemotherapies; therefore, compromising any additional changes or effective treatment.
We hope the lectures, included in this series, will improve your understanding of inflammatory breast cancer. We at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have developed expertise for this particular disease. We hope to answer your questions and partner with you in the care of your patient. We have therapeutic agents available that may improve the outcome or prognosis of your patients. Please let us know if this series is valuable to you, and how we can provide further assistance.
Introduction to the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Series
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Center
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