82R25420 CBE-D
By: Alvarado H.R. No. 1740
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare but very
aggressive type of breast cancer in which the cancer cells block the
lymph vessels in the skin of the breast; and
WHEREAS, Individuals with IBC may experience such symptoms in
their breasts as redness, swelling, shooting pain, persistent
itching, and warmth, which may appear virtually overnight; and
WHEREAS, IBC cases risk being misdiagnosed because the
symptoms are similar to those of the benign breast infection
mastitis, and delay of appropriate care often means a Stage IV
diagnosis; and
WHEREAS, Although IBC accounts for only one to five percent
of all breast cancer cases, it has a faster doubling time than that
of other breast cancers; moreover, the lack of expertise about IBC
in the medical community and the cancer's resistance to treatment
with standard chemotherapy drugs make the five-year median survival
rate for IBC approximately 40 percent; and
WHEREAS, IBC usually grows in nests or sheets without the
usual lump women are told to look for, and because there is no lump,
IBC is rarely detected by mammograms or ultrasounds; and
WHEREAS, The treatment for IBC differs from other breast
cancer treatments, and finding a physician with IBC-specific
experience is essential; and
WHEREAS, Increasing public understanding of inflammatory
breast cancer is the first step toward fighting this devastating
disease, and participating in Inflammatory Breast Cancer Awareness
Month is one effective way to support that effort; now, therefore,
be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
Legislature hereby recognize October 2011 as Inflammatory Breast
Cancer Awareness Month and encourage all Texans to learn more about
IBC.