The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), with emphasis on the role of molecular subtypes and radiotherapy.

A retrospective cohort study to investigate overall survival (OS) and breast cancer-specific mortality (BCSM) in patients with IBC was conducted using data obtained by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program from 2010-2013. Cox multivariate regression was used to calculate the adjusted Hazard Ratios (aHR).

403 patients were eligible for this study. Patients in the group with hormone receptors (HR)+/HER2- subtype had an OS of 79.6% compared with 89.0 % in the group with (HR)+/HER2+ subtype and 76.8% in the HR-/HER2+ group and 62.9% in the triple-negative (TN) group. BCSM was 16.3% for the HR+/HER2- group, 9.8% for the HR+/HER2+ group, 21.7% for the HR-/HER2+ group, and 30.5% for the TN group. For distant metastases, the results showed that there was a high probability of bone metastasis in HR-positive groups, brain and liver metastasis in HER2-positive groups, and lung metastasis in the TN group. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that estrogen receptor and HER2 positivity were associated with better survival and that the TN subtype had a poorer OS and BCSM compared with other subtypes (P<0.05). Furthermore, patients who received radiotherapy were more likely to have improved survival (P< 0.05).

Inflammatory breast cancer appears to alter the prognosis in association with the receptor status and molecular subtypes. Radiotherapy was still considered to be a crucial treatment for patients with IBC.