Inflamatory Breast Cancer remission

My daughter diagnosed at 36 with inflamatory breast cancer.at stage 4 with a diagnosis of 6-9 mos.  Left breast removed and 16 of 19 lymph nodes were positive. 3 or more cancer cells in lungs and 1 or more in the bones.Experimental program at Columbia Presbyterian hospital in NYC and . Adult stem cell therapy has given her 10 years of 100% remission. They harvested her stem cells and gave her extremely strong chemo treatment and then returned 1/3 of cells . They did this 3 times in 3 consecutive months. . After each she was hospitalized for a week to rebuild her white cells etc. Her father just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and she has been told that she now has more than a 50% chance of getting another form of cancer. She will be monitored closely.

Congratulations to your daughter on her 10 yr survival!!  That's wonderful.  I'm sorry to read that her father has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  That is a difficult disease to treat and very challenging.

While your daughter has had a successful remission following HDC/SCR (high dose chemo/stem cell rescue) this is a very dangerous and intense form of treatment.  There is little, if any, clinical trial evidence to show that this is the most effective treatment for inflammatory breast cancer.  Those who received the treatment and have survived feel it "saved them" while the voices of those who did not survive are quiet.  The debate continues. 

Fortunately, with the advent of more chemo options and more physicians knowing to treat this disease aggressively, more of us are becoming long-term survivors.

I was diagnosed in 1994 when this disease was a death sentence and given a poor prognosis, even at stage IIIB.  I was treated aggressively with relatively high doses of standard chemo and have been one of the fortunate ones to obtain a good outcome in spite of residual disease in the breast and lymph nodes.  I remain NED (no evidence of disease)

More research is desperately needed to understand the complexities of this disease and improve diagnosis, treatment, and survival.  I am a part of the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation a non-profit dedicated to this very mission.  For more info visit: www.ibcresearch.org

Again, congratulations to your daughter.  As you indicated once we have cancer we are at greater risk for a 2nd cancer....hopefully our first experience makes us more aware of our bodies so changes can be dealt with quickly and effectively.