What adjunctive therapy is usually administered for patients with inflammatory breast cancer?

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer characterized by rapid progression and unique clinical features. The treatment approach for IBC typically involves a combination of systemic and local therapies. Radiation therapy plays a crucial role in the management of IBC, particularly after chemotherapy, to reduce the risk of local recurrence in the breast and lymph nodes.

Radiation therapy is usually administered after the initial chemotherapy phase, which is aimed at shrinking the tumor before surgery (neoadjuvant chemotherapy). Following surgery, radiation therapy is then used to target remaining cancer cells and minimize the chance of the cancer returning in the treated area. Therefore, six weeks of radiation therapy acts as an essential adjunctive treatment in the management of inflammatory breast cancer.

While targeted therapy and immunotherapy are increasingly significant in cancer treatment, their specific roles in the context of IBC may be more situational and dependent on tumor markers and individual patient factors. Chronic care management, while important for overall patient health, does not directly relate as an adjunctive therapy to the aggressive and localized control of inflammatory breast cancer. Thus, the administration of radiation therapy is a well-established practice in the comprehensive management of this specific cancer type.