Final answer:
The medical term for inflammation of a breast is mastitis. It presents with localized redness, swelling, warmth, and pain, and can be due to infection or complications from conditions like cancer.
Step-by-step explanation:
The medical term for inflammation of a breast is mastitis. This condition involves the inflammatory response of the body to an injury or infection in the breast tissue. Common signs of mastitis include localized redness, swelling, warmth, and pain. It can occur due to various reasons, such as an infection during breastfeeding or as a complication in diseases like breast cancer. Hormonal fluctuations also affect breast tissue, leading to temporary swelling and tenderness; however, this is not considered mastitis unless accompanied by the inflammatory signs and symptoms. In severe cases, such as with metastatic inflammatory breast cancer, the inflammation can be systemic, as evidenced in a clinical focus case where a patient developed a localized infection at the site of a catheter used for chemotherapy.