Male breast cancer is an uncommon type of cancer that develops in the tissue of men’s breasts. Despite the fact that breast cancer is generally thought to affect women, men can also develop it.
Specialist surgeon Dr Fatima Hoosain stated that “the risk is low, particularly in comparison to other common cancers. The National Cancer Registry states that the lifetime risk of suffering breast cancer in males is between 1 in 500 to 1 in 1000, depending on race. Men at any age may develop breast cancer, but it is usually detected in men between 60 and 80 years of age.”
Dr Hoosain asserts that for a variety of reasons, the prognosis for men is, on average, slightly worse than for women. Men frequently present with advanced cancers because they are less inclined to visit the doctor. Because boys anatomically have relatively little breast tissue, tiny tumours can rapidly migrate to distant organs by infiltrating the surrounding tissue early on, she explains.
Men diagnosed with male breast cancer at an early stage have a good chance of a cure, says Dr Hoosain.
Things to know about breast cancer in men according to Dr Hoosain:
Do men get the same types of breast cancer as women?
Infiltrating ductal carcinoma is the type of breast cancer that affects men most frequently. This type of cancer has gone past the duct-lining cells in the breast. Both in men and women, it is the most prevalent kind of breast cancer. All other types of breast cancer in men are extremely uncommon.
What are the possible causes of breast cancer in men and does this include a family history?
Males with breast cancer are thought to be at least two to four times more likely than females to have cancer-causing genetic mutations. Therefore, genetic testing has been incorporated into normal treatment for male breast cancer patients. Other risk factors include radiation exposure, oestrogen-related diseases such as liver disease or other hereditary illnesses, and radiation exposure.
How would breast cancer be detected in a man?
Men can feel a mass more easily than women because men’s breasts are typically smaller than women’s. In medicine, a biopsy is carried out to ensure a proper diagnosis. This involves the removal of cells or tissue fragments so they can be viewed under a microscope by a pathologist to check for signs of cancer. It is usually done by taking a small core of tissue using a needle under local anaesthesia.
What are the treatment options?
Treatments for breast cancer in men and women are generally the same. Many men benefit from a combination of different treatments:
- Surgery. A mastectomy, in which the entire breast is removed, is the standard treatment for men. Men don’t typically have enough breast tissue to allow for breast-conserving surgery, which removes only the tumour. Additionally, the surgeon will remove one or more lymph nodes for a pathologic analysis to determine whether the cancer has spread.
- Radiation therapy. In males with breast cancer, radiation therapy is frequently performed following surgery since these tumours are frequently progressed and there is a substantial risk of recurrence without irradiation.
- Chemotherapy. This type of treatment uses medications that target cancer cells and can be administered orally or intravenously. Following surgery, chemotherapy is frequently administered to reduce the likelihood of the cancer returning. Chemotherapy may be the main treatment for males with advanced cancer or cancer that has metastasized (spread to other places of the body).
- Hormonal therapy. Some forms of breast cancer require particular hormones to develop. The actions of these hormones are blocked by hormonal therapy, which chokes the malignancy. The number of some male hormones in the body can occasionally be decreased by removing the testes or drug suppressing their action. Testosterone should never be taken by men who have breast cancer. After surgery, hormonal therapy is frequently given to reduce the likelihood of the cancer returning. It might serve as the main course of treatment for males with locally advanced or metastatic cancer.
- Biological therapy. This is a new approach. Some men have an excess of a protein that makes cancer spread quickly. Herceptin is a drug that’s been approved to treat metastatic breast cancer. It stops this protein from making the cancer cells grow. It may also boost your immune system, giving it more strength to fight the cancer itself.
If a man is diagnosed with breast cancer, does this increase the chances of his daughters developing cancer?
Yes. Every man who receives a breast cancer diagnosis should get genetic testing. There is a good possibility that he carries a gene mutation that increases the risk that his offspring may develop breast cancer.
Also see: Oral sex is now the leading cause to throat cancer
