Fujii T, et al. - By analyzing retrospectively collected data from patients with nonmetastatic inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) (n=299) and non-IBC (n = 3,436), researchers tested whether IBC and non-IBC have different patterns of metastasis. To determine statistical variations that can result in clinically important outcomes, patterns of bone metastasis during disease progression were analyzed. They found that patients with IBC vs non-IBC had different metastatic patterns of spread. There were high chances of developing bone metastasis following chest wall, lung, or liver metastasis as the first site of progression in patients with IBC (28%, 21%, and 21%, respectively). A fairly consistent probability of developing bone metastasis was noted, regardless of initial metastasis site, in patients with non-IBC.