Breast cancer can occur in men. However, breast cancer risk is much lower in men than in women. The lifetime risk of breast cancer in the United States is 1 in 1,000 for men and 1 in 8 for women [96,168]. Although male breast cancer is rare, an estimated 2,190 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed in 2012 [168].
Prognosis and survival
Prognosis for breast cancer in men is similar to prognosis in women of the same age and cancer stage (more on cancer stage) [149-150]. The five-year relative survival rate for men with breast cancer is 85.6 percent [151].
Types of male breast cancer
Most male breast cancers begin in the milk ducts of the breast (invasive ductal carcinomas). Less often, male breast cancers begin in the lobules of the breast (invasive lobular carcinoma). Learn more about the anatomy of the breast.
In rare cases, men can be diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ (a non-invasive breast cancer) or Paget’s disease of the nipple [149,152-153]. Paget’s disease of the nipple is a breast cancer that begins in the milk ducts of the breast tissue and spreads to the skin of the nipple. It can cause a scaly rash on the skin of the nipple. Although Paget’s disease is rare, it occurs more often in men than in women [149,152-153].
Benign breast conditions in men
Benign (not cancer) breast conditions can occur in men. Learn about benign breast conditions in men.
Treatment for male breast cancer
Surgery and radiation therapy
The main treatment for male breast cancer is mastectomy. Lumpectomy (also called breast conserving surgery) is rarely used because of the small size of the male breast.
Some men may have radiation therapy following surgery.
Learn more about mastectomy and lumpectomy.
Learn more about radiation therapy.
Hormone therapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy
Treatment for male breast cancer is similar to treatment for female breast cancer. Since most male breast cancers are hormone receptor-positive, tamoxifen is usually the first drug therapy used. Tamoxifen is taken in pill form, every day for five years.
If the tumor does not respond to the first hormone therapy (usually tamoxifen), gonadotropin inhibitors may be used to lower hormone levels in the body. Depending on the cancer stage, chemotherapy may be given before tamoxifen therapy.
For men with hormone receptor-negative breast cancer, chemotherapy is usually the first drug therapy used.
Men with HER2/neu-positive breast cancers may be treated with trastuzumab (Herceptin) plus chemotherapy that contains a taxane.
Learn more about chemotherapy.
Learn more about hormone therapy.
Learn more about trastuzumab.
Updated 01/19/12
