How can I maximize survival from inflammatory breast cancer?

Get a treatment team that knows about IBC! Inflammatory breast cancer is extremely aggressive and needs to be recognized early. Chemotherapy must be given BEFORE surgery. It should include the drug bevacizumab (Avastin) when possible. A mastectomy and lymph node dissection should ALWAYS be done after chemotherapy, and radiation is also ALWAYS necessary. More aggressive radiation regimens should be considered (eg twice daily radiation). Consider clinical trials as well.

Close follow-up with physical exams every 3 months and yearly CT or PET scans is important. And probably most important, be your own advocate!  If you sense something is wrong, get to a doctor who will listen and take you seriously. Be pushy if necessary...this is your life! With aggressive treatment, you can be cured from inflammatory breast cancer.