Recent Scenario of Male Breast Cancer in a Tertiary Care Centre

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer in males is a rare disease with an estimated incidence of 0.5-1% of all breast cancer cases. However recent data show that incidence is slowly rising but epidemiological data regarding Male Breast Cancer is little as compared to Female Breast Cancer due to the rarity of this disease. It is mostly seen in elderly men in the 6th or 7th decade of life. They usually present at an advanced stage with a poor prognosis as compared to FBC. This study is aimed to analyze the epidemiologic, and clinicopathological behavior of male breast cancer patients. Methods: This work is the prospective work of 11 male breast cancer patients who were presented in department of General Surgery Rims, Ranchi during a period of 1 year. Data regarding clinical history, examination findings, family history, stage of the disease, histopathological examination and hormonal status were evaluated.Results: Results showed that male breast cancer occurs later in life with median age being 58.5 years. The average diagnosis delay was 6.6 months. Out of eleven patients, eight of them had involvement of the left breast while the other three had involvement of right side of breast. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the histological type found in nine cases. Ten patients presented an advanced stage of T4 while one patient presented at T3. Hormone receptors were positive in 81.8% cases. Conclusion: To conclude male breast cancer is a rare disease with multiple and varied risk factors. It is similar in clinical, histological and prognostic characteristic to breast cancer in women but also has varied characteristics. We suggest that for early diagnosis and enhanced prognosis, teaching self-breast examination in males, screening mammography and testing for familial predisposition shall be helpful in high risk groups. Therefore, there is a requirement for more free awareness public programmes to educate males about breast cancer and promote its early detection.