For men with breast cancer, there are different treatments, some of which are standard therapies (those currently in use) and some of which are in clinical trials.
Clinical trials about treatments are exploratory studies designed to improve current therapies for people with cancer or to get information about new therapies that may become standard when clinical trials show that the new therapy is better than the standard therapy.
For some patients, participation in a clinical trial may be their best treatment option. Many of the current standard therapies for cancer are based on prior clinical trials, and patients who participate in a clinical trial may receive the standard therapy or be the first to receive a new therapy.
Participation in clinical trials to treat cancer
Participation in clinical trials can help improve the way cancer is treated in the future, and even if clinical trials do not result in effective new treatments, they often answer important questions and help advance research.
Some clinical trials include only patients who have not yet received treatment, and others are for patients whose cancer is not in remission or to test new ways to prevent cancer from coming back or to reduce the side effects of cancer treatment.
The choice of the most appropriate cancer therapy is best decided by the patient, the patient’s family, and the health care team, and there are currently 5 categories of standard therapies used to treat men with breast cancer.
Surgery
Surgery for men with breast cancer is usually a modified radical procedure (removal of the breast, most of the axillary lymph nodes, fascia of the chest muscles, and sometimes some of the chest wall muscles).
Breast-conserving surgery, a procedure that removes the cancer but not the breast itself, is also used to treat some male breast cancers. The surgeon removes the tumor (lump) as well as a small amount of surrounding normal tissue, and radiation therapy is usually given after the surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses drugs to stop cancer cells from growing by killing them or stopping them from dividing. When chemotherapy drugs are given orally, through a vein, or intramuscularly, the drugs enter the bloodstream and can reach cancer cells anywhere in the body for systemic chemotherapy.
When chemotherapy is delivered directly into the cerebrospinal fluid, organs, or body cavities (such as the abdominal cavity), the drug primarily affects cancer cells in these areas (regional chemotherapy), and the method of delivery of chemotherapy drugs depends on the type and stage of cancer to be treated.
Endocrine therapy
Endocrine therapy removes hormones or blocks the activity of hormones, which are substances produced by glands in the body and circulate in the bloodstream, so that cancer cells stop growing.
Some hormones can cause specific tumor growth, and if tests reveal cancer cells where hormones can attach (receptors), drugs, surgery, or radiation therapy can be used to reduce hormone production or block the effects of the hormones.
Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy is the use of high-energy X-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells or to stop them from growing; there are two types of radiotherapy.
External radiation therapy, which uses a machine located outside the body to send rays to the cancer, and internal radiation therapy, which sequesters radioactive material on a needle, particle, wire, or catheter that can be placed in or near the tumor.
The way chemotherapy is given depends on the type and stage of the cancer being treated.
Targeted therapy
Targeted therapy is the use of drugs or other substances that identify and attack specific cancer cells without harming normal cells, and monoclonal antibody therapy is one type of targeted therapy used to treat male breast cancer.
Monoclonal antibody therapy uses antibodies prepared in the laboratory that come from a single type of immune system cell that recognize substances on cancer cells or recognize normal substances that help cancer cells grow.
The antibodies attach to that substance and kill the cancer cells, stopping them from growing or spreading.
Monoclonal antibodies
A drug is given by infusion, either alone or by carrying a drug, toxin, or radioactive substance directly to cancer cells.
Monoclonal antibodies are also used with chemotherapy as adjuvant therapy (treatment given after surgery to reduce the recurrence of cancer), and trastuzumab is a monoclonal antibody that blocks the action of the growth factor protein HER-2.