A CASE OF MALE BREAST CANCER

Abstract

Male breast cancer is a reratively rare disease but in recent years the number of reported cases continues to increase. In this paper we report on a case of male breast cancer as well as some discussion of the disease. The patient was 67 years old and at about one year after onset he came to our hospital with the chief complaints of right subareolar tumor and right axillary lymph node swelling. After examination, he was diagnosed as having a right breast cancer T2aN1bM0, stage II and standard radical mastectomy was performed. In preoperative hormone assay no abnormal levels obseved either in the blood or urine. In hormone reseptor assay of the tumor, estrogen reseptors (ER) were positive and along with postoperative radiation 50 G ray, chemotheraphy and endocrinotheraphy were conducted. A present three years later he is still healthy. A search of the literature has indicated that male breast cancer is most often observed in elderly patients and the disease period is protracted with good coincidence with this case. Moreover, since male breast cancer is said to be more commonly found in advanced stages and have poorer prognosis in comparison to female breast cancer, further enlightenment activities targeted for males are important.