Thirty-year experience of surgery for breast carcinoma in men.

Abstract

To present the long-term outcome after surgery for breast carcinoma in men. Retrospective study. University Hospital, Switzerland. 37 consecutive men who were operated on for breast carcinoma between 1968 and 1998. The mean age was 67 years (range 41-89). The delay between the first clinical presentation and operation ranged from 1 month to 3 years (median 3.5 months). Operations included modified radical mastectomy (n = 19), radical mastectomy (n = 12), simple mastectomy (n = 3), Halsted procedure (n = 1), and conservative resection (n = 1). One patient had only a biopsy and was excluded from survival analysis. There were 30 infiltrating ductal carcinomas, 4 in situ ductal carcinomas, 2 papillary carcinomas, and 1 adenoid cystic carcinoma. Most tumors (n = 25, 68%) were in the subareolar region. The overall survival at 10 years was 44%, but it was significantly influenced by the stage of disease, ranging from 57% in stage I (n = 12), to 26% in stage II (n = 15), and 0 in stage III (n = 8). Although the long term survival in stage I and II is similar in men and women, the rarity of breast carcinoma in men and its location in the subareolar region may delay diagnosis and treatment.