On October 1, 2025, a long-overdue change will take effect: Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) will finally have its own diagnosis codes—C50.A0, C50.A1, and C50.A2. This change will improve how IBC is documented, tracked, and treated. It will help patients begin treatment faster, support coordinated care, streamline insurance approvals, and strengthen research by enabling more accurate data collection.
It’s a milestone—and a hard-won one.
But a code alone isn’t a solution. A diagnosis code doesn’t guarantee doctors understand IBC. It doesn’t mean it’s being taught in medical or nursing schools. It doesn’t ensure patients know what to look for, or that mammography technicians will recognize the signs.
We must fund education. We must fund research.
This is our opportunity to move from invisible to undeniable.
Because when we can count how many of us there are, we can finally claim our seat at the table of medical progress.
Hope always,
Terry Lynn Arnold
Founder, The IBC Network Foundation