Time to treatment in inflammatory breast cancer: Experience from a single institution.

Abstract

e13530 Background: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer that accounts for nearly 10% of breast cancer caused mortality. With an annual rate between 1-4% per year and 3-year overall survival (OS) of about 65%, timely completion of trimodal treatment including systemic therapy, surgery, and radiation therapy is essential. Prior studies have demonstrated impact of time to treatment on OS of non-IBC patients. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the time from diagnosis to treatment and outcomes for patients with IBC. Methods: Categorically matched patients who underwent treatment of inflammatory and non-inflammatory locally advanced breast cancer at an NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center from 2006-2016 were analyzed. Clinicopathologic factors were compared using Chi-square and Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests. Overall survival was assessed using Kaplan-Meier methods and log-rank tests. Results: Of 217 patients who underwent excision for breast cancer, 99 had an IBC diagnosis. All patients were female, 85% (n=84) white, and 98% (n=97) had single-sided breast disease. Thirty-one percent (n=31) of patients had clinically node positive (N1) disease, the majority were ER negative (53%), and 38% were HER2 positive. There was no difference in time from first abnormal mammogram to diagnosis between IBC vs non-IBC patients. Ninety-one percent (n=90) of IBC patients underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy compared to 52% (n=61) of non-IBC patients (p<0.001). Only 27% (n=27) of IBC had a pathological complete response. IBC patients tended to present earlier with symptoms (p=0.054), begin chemotherapy sooner after diagnosis (median days: 10.5 vs 17.0, respectively; p=0.002), and were more likely to receive radiation earlier after surgery (p<0.001). However, IBC patients were also more likely to undergo surgery later (191 vs 153 days; p<0.001) and have a worse OS (p=0.006). While not statistically significant, there was a trend toward worse OS for IBC patients with delayed chemotherapy initiation (p=0.459). Conclusions: IBC is an aggressive form of breast cancer associated with poor OS. Patients with this diagnosis are more likely to receive trimodal therapy sooner, but this may not significantly improve their OS. Further studies are necessary to evaluate effect of time from presentation of initial symptoms to treatment initiation on outcomes.