Men and Breast Cancer Info

I am a 42 year old male who just had a core boipsy taken from my left breast and was wondering how many different types of cancer could there be for men? Also where I can find the most info on this issue?

[bluebutterfly2222]

The American Cancer Society estimates that about 1910 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be  diagnosed among men in the United States this year. (I'm sorry, I don't know the statistics world-wide.)

As with women, early detection is important.  Men and women with the same stage of breast cancer have a fairly similar outlook for survival.

I hope someone else will be able to provide more specific answers to your questions. We have some members who are male survivors of BC, and maybe they will chime in.

I just wanted to let you know that we care about both men and women, and hope things turn out well for you.

[Phil_not_Phyllis]

From what I've read men can develop the same types of cancer in their breasts as women.  But by far the most common is ductile carcinoma which may account for more than 90 percent of the male breast cancers diagnosed.  

Since you appear to be waiting on the pathology report to come back on the the core biopsy they took, I hope that you will find that the lesion is benign.  You have done the smart thing to get it checked so that you will have an answer.  But if the lesion is cancerous, there is chance that it will be the ductile carcinoma in-situ form which is highly treatable with great cure rates.  If it is something else, you still have good odds at treating the disease and surviving for a long time. You will find that that the doctors will probably base whatever treatment you might get on what has been found to work the best for females with similar stage and pathology as your situation.

I know you have a daunting task ahead trying to find the best information on this matter so that you can plan your treatment strategy.  This link to the MD Anderson Cancer Center web site can give you a good place to learn about about the different treatment options being used to treat the invasive and non-invasive forms of breast cancer. Hopefully your situation won't come to that.  http://utm-ext01a.mdacc.tmc.edu/mda/cm/cwtguide.nsf/luhtml/sidebar1

Best of luck to you.

[bluebutterfly2222]

Hi again,

I found a little more  on male breast cancer, which I'm going to post in case there are other males who would like more information on the subject.

I hope it's information you WON"T need.

Regards,
bluebutterfly
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Populations of Interest / Men

Breast cancer in men is a rare disease that accounts for less than 1 percent of all cancers in men and less than 1 percent of all diagnosed breast cancers. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is even rarer in men than is breast cancer.

Many of the men who get breast cancer seem to have a family history on their father's or their mother's side. Risk factors for women, such as early exposure to radiation and higher estrogen exposure in utero, also seem to be relevant to men.

For a time there was concern that men who got estrogen treatments for prostate cancer were more vulnerable to breast cancer, but this doesn't seem to be the case. Rather, prostate cancer can metastasize to the breast. (Remember that it remains prostate cancer; the cancer cells are prostate cancer cells, not breast cancer cells.)

All mammals, male and female, are born with breast buds and ductal cells. At puberty girls' breasts develop and the ducts enlarge and also grow lobules to make milk. Even though male breasts do not undergo this development, breast cancer can still occur in the breast ducts. Breast cancer in men shows itself in all the ways it does in women—usually as a lump—but it tends to be discovered later because men aren't usually very conscious of their breasts. The treatments are the same as well. Men can undergo sentinel node biopsy. And they can have a lumpectomy and radiation or a mastectomy. There is a tendency to overtreat men with post-mastectomy radiation because surgeons see these cancers so rarely. Recent data demonstrate that local recurrences in men are rare even in Stage III disease, and that the same indications should be used as are employed in women.

One issue that is often not addressed is the fact that the cosmetic implications are somewhat different for men. Men don't tend to regard breasts as crucial to their sexuality the way women do. But their naked chests are more likely to be visible, which can make it more awkward for a man to have a scar, to lack a nipple, or to have a deformed chest.

The one extra consideration is hair. After radiation therapy a man loses most of his hair on that side. If he is very hairy, a mastectomy with the scar hidden in hair may prove more cosmetic. Depending on where the tumor is, the nipple can often be conserved. If it can't be conserved, a new one can be created by a plastic surgeon.

Treatment in terms of chemotherapy and axillary nodes is exactly the same as for women. Tamoxifen works in men with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors, as do the aromatase inhibitors.





  

[Puddin101]

Thanks my appointment is on Tue. for results.

[bluebutterfly2222]

I'll be thinking of you and hoping the news is good!

Best wishes,
bluebutterfly