Breast Cancer

About Breast Cancer in Men

Breast cancer in men is rare -- less than 1 percent of all breast carcinomas occur in men.

About 1,300 new cases will be diagnosed in the United States in 1998, and about 400 men will die of the disease.

The average age at diagnosis is between 60 and 70, although men of all ages can be affected with the disease.

What are risk factors for breast cancer in men?
Risk factors may include:

radiation exposure
estrogen administration
diseases associated with hyperestrogenism, such as cirrhosis or Klinefelter's syndrome

Also, there are definite familial tendencies for developing breast cancer:

An increased incidence is seen in men who have a number of female relatives with breast cancer.
An increased risk of male breast cancer has been reported in families in which a BRCA2 mutation has been identified.

What is the most common type of breast cancer in men?
Infiltrating ductal cancer is the most common tumor type, but intraductal cancer, inflammatory carcinoma, and Paget's disease of the nipple have been described as well.

Lobular carcinoma in situ has not been identified in men.

What are similarities to breast cancer in women?
Lymph node involvement and the hematogenous pattern of spread are similar to those found in female breast cancer. The staging system for male breast cancer is identical to the staging system for female breast cancer.

Prognostic factors that have been evaluated include the size of lesion and the presence or absence of lymph node involvement, both of which correlate well with prognosis.

Overall survival is similar to that of women with breast cancer. The impression that male breast cancer has a worse prognosis may stem from the tendency toward diagnosis at a later stage.

Treatment options for men with breast cancer:
Specific treatment for male breast cancer will be determined by your physician(s) based on:

your overall health and medical history
extent of the disease
your tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies
expectations for the course of the disease
your opinion or preference

The primary standard treatment is a modified radical mastectomy, just as it is with female breast cancer. Adjuvant therapy may be considered on the same basis as it is for a woman with breast cancer -- since there is no evidence that prognosis is different for men or women.