Question:
The mother-in-law of a friend and client of mine is suffering from a
particularly nasty variant of breast cancer, which has metastasized
to the subcutaneous layer of her skin. This is manifesting as rash
and lesions to the upper torso, which are spreading to other skin
areas. Visually, it's presenting very much like leprosy (though it
is not at all related), and it's accompanied by lymphodema of the
left arm, chest wall and shoulder with periodic swelling of the left
leg, ankle andfoot.
If anyone has seen similar symptoms in a cancer patient, or if you
know a physician (oncologist) who might be able to shed some light
on the proper course of treatment, kindly pass this message to the
Answer:
It sounds as if this patient has inflammatory breast cancer, a
particularly nasty varient in which cancer cells direct infiltrate
throughtout the lymphatics of the skin. It is very aggressive and
difficult to treat, since it frequently is resistant to chemo and
radiotherapy. I've had one success story with a combination of docetaxol
and doxorubicin (taxotere and adriamycin to use the American trade
names). Radiation coupled with hyperthermia is another option,
