Jean Vickery: A Silver Anniversary Survivor Living to her Fullest 

by Phyllis Johnson

“In May of 1999 I was back packing the coast of Cornwall with my boyfriend. In July my breast became red and inflamed. The doctor diagnosed the problem as IBC and said that I would live about 2 years. A biopsy revealed that the cancer was in my lymph nodes,” says Jean Vickery. “I love to water ski, so the next day I went to Kerr Lake with my boyfriend and some family members so I could have one last day skiing.”

Twenty-five years ago, Jean Vickery lived an active life in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, working with the university development office. And then inflammatory breast cancer struck when she was 55.

Jean’s tumor was positive for the HER2 protein, a bad sign in 1999, because HER2 positive tumors tend to be more aggressive, and there was no specific treatment for that subtype. Fortunately, Jean was in the right place. The University of North Carolina was starting a trial of a new targeted therapy called Herceptin. She was the first person on the trial at UNC.

Following treatment with Adriamycin and Cytoxan, she had Taxol and Herceptin. She says, “I next had surgery with all lymph nodes removed. To the astonishment of the doctors, the nodes were negative. Then I had radiation, then 40 more weeks of Herceptin. I cannot believe I had 64 infusions! All my hair fell out, of course, and I was given steroids so I gained about 30 pounds.

I worked the whole time since I needed the money, loved my job, and needed to feel like I had a future.”

By February 2001 that future was looking better. She was managing her lymphedema with regular massage and a compression sleeve, habits she continues to this day. But October 2001 brought more bad news. Her fiancé died in a sailing accident. She says, “That was worse than the rest of it.”

Somehow she kept going, having DIEP reconstruction in 2003 using belly fat, not muscle, so that she could continue her active life. By 2004, she was finally back up on water skis!

Looking back on treatment she says, “The worst feature is that people are freaked out and assume you are dying and act weird.

Today I walk my dog, swim, snow ski, teach a course at church and live a pretty good and active life.”

Her advice for the recently diagnosed? “Live everything to the fullest you can.” Her theme song? “How Can I Keep from Singing.

Can Men Get Inflammatory Breast Cancer?

While inflammatory breast cancer is rare, breast cancer in men is also rare, accounting for less than 1% of all breast cancer cases. Men have less breast tissue than women, but they can still develop cancer in their breast ducts or lobules. The most common type of breast cancer in men is invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), which starts in the breast ducts and can spread to other tissues. Non-invasive breast cancers, such as ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), are very uncommon in men.

The statistics for inflammatory breast cancer in men are not well-known, because it is such a rare condition. However, some sources provide some estimates based on available data.

  • According to the American Cancer Society, about 2,800 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in men in 2023, and about 530 men will die from breast cancer. The lifetime risk of getting breast cancer for men is about 1 in 833. Breast cancer is about 100 times less common among white men than among white women, and about 70 times less common among black men than among black women.
  • According to Yale Medicine, IBC makes up only between 1–5% of all breast cancer cases in the U.S. It affects women at younger ages than other forms of breast cancer, often occurring in women under 40, but it has a median age at diagnosis of 57. And though it is rare, IBC can also occur in men.
  • According to Cancer Research UK, breast cancer in men is rare, with around 370 men diagnosed each year in the UK. This compares to around 55,500 cases in women. Less than 1% of breast cancer cases in the UK are in males.

Based on these sources, we can estimate that the number of inflammatory breast cancer cases in men is very low, probably less than 100 per year in the U.S. and less than 20 per year in the UK. The survival rate for IBC is lower than for other types of breast cancer, because it is often diagnosed at a later stage and because it is more likely to spread to other organs. The survival rate for breast cancer in men is also lower than for women, because men tend to have larger tumors, higher hormone levels, and less awareness of the signs and symptoms.

Our friend and fellow inflammatory breast cancer patient, Rod Ritchie, shared his cancer story with a local news outlet in 2017. Our thanks to Rod and others who are willing to talk openly about their diagnosis and treatment to help people understand that breast cancer is not a gender specific disease.

Read: Male breast cancer survivor calls for more awareness.

TEDx Talks: Inflammatory Breast Cancer – Rare, Not Impossible

Published on June 8, 2018 by TEDx Talks
In her powerful talk, Tatiana educates the audience about Inflammatory Breast Cancer, shares her mother’s journey, and helps us understand why we should never give up on advocating for our health. Inflammatory Breast Cancer is incredibly rare. So rare that, until her mom was diagnosed with IBC in 2016, Tatiana had never heard of it before. But instead of giving into the fear of facing a future without her mother, she chose to become an advocate for awareness in an effort to carry on her mother’s legacy.

Running time: 13 minutes, 20 seconds.

 

Q & A Panel: Open Discussion with IBC Experts

At the third annual Inflammatory Breast Cancer Patient Forum, the panel answering questions included a nurse, a surgical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, a social worker, a nuclear medicine specialist, a cancer genetics specialist, a sexual health specialist, and a medical oncologist. Question topics included genetic testing, once a day vs. twice a day radiation therapy, skin punch biopsy, sexual health, fear of recurrence, axillary lymph node removal, and more.

Running time: 33 minutes

Ginny Mason: Discussing the Importance of Collaboration with Other Organizations

Part 1 of 2
Running time: 4 minutes, 23 seconds

Part 2 of 2
Running time: 2 minutes, 48 seconds.