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New form of breast cancer discussed

A mass e-mail distributed at the beginning of June 2006 warns women to be on the lookout for an unknown form of breast cancer identified as inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), which prompted numerous inquiries to the American Cancer Society (ACS).

“[Mass e-mail surges] are one of those things that come out periodically,” said Katie Spangle, media relations director for the ACS in the Los Angeles region. “It’s not a new form of breast cancer.”

According to ACS, inflammatory breast cancer only constitutes roughly one percent of breast cancer victims.

The National Cancer Institute lists symptoms for this rare disease as changes in breast size or shape, nipple discharge, inversion of the nipple into the breast, skin resembling the texture of an orange and increased redness.

According to Spangle, the medical community is fully aware of IBC. The IBC Research Foundation contradicts the ACS statistics. It reports IBC cases making up anywhere from five to 10 percent of all breast cancer incidents on its Web site.

“[Breast cancer] is something most women don’t usually think about, at least while they’re young,” said Gail Farmer, assistant dean of Research at the College of Health and Human Services at Cal State Long Beach.

Breastcancer.org reports 40,000 women died in 2005 from breast cancer.

Farmer advocates for mass e-mails randomly sent to a slew of people about health issues. She said they’ve might be a more effective way to spread information about risks associated with cancer.

Five out of five CSULB female students had never heard of IBC either. “I haven’t heard of it [IBC]. Breast cancer, yeah, but not inflammatory,” said Karen Burrola, a Public Relations major.

“We can save thousands of more lives by focusing on lumps found in breasts,” Spangle said. She urges women to know their own breasts and receive annual examinations starting at the age of 20. According to her, breast cancer is being diagnosed in younger women because of the increased awareness the ACS continues to garner. Although she states college-age women are typically not at risk for breast cancer.

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