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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffIt's not clear what causes inflammatory breast cancer. Doctors know that inflammatory breast cancer begins with one abnormal cell in one of the breast's ducts. Mutations within the abnormal cell's DNA command it to grow and divide rapidly. The accumulating abnormal cells infiltrate and clog the lymphatic vessels in the skin of your breast. The blockage in the lymphatic vessels causes red, swollen and dimpled skin — a classic sign of inflammatory breast cancer.
- Breast cancer. Fort Washington, Pa.: National Comprehensive Cancer Network. http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/PDF/breast.pdf. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Inflammatory breast cancer: Questions and answers. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/IBC/print?page=&keyword=. Accessed Jan.7, 2010.
- Woodward WA, et al. Inflammatory breast cancer. Seminars in Radiation Oncology. 2009;19:256.
- Inflammatory breast cancer. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_6X_Inflammatory_Breast_Cancer.asp. Accessed Jan. 12, 2010.
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