While male breast cancer is rare, it does occur. Any cell in the body can become cancerous. So although men have very little breast tissue in their bodies, cancer can still occur. The American Cancer Society estimates that there were 2,470 new cases of breast cancer in men in 2017. The lifetime risk of developing breast cancer in men is about 1 in 1000.
Because breast cancer is uncommon in men, it is usually diagnosed at a more advanced stage, making it more difficult to treat.
But breast cancer treatment takes a long time in both men and women. If breast cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, the chances of cure are very high. Most advanced breast cancers are usually treatable and can improve quality of life and extend life expectancy.
Men and women are often treated in the same way. Many men can benefit from the combination of different therapies, such as:
- Surgery. The standard treatment for men is mastectomy, in which the entire breast is removed. Sometimes breast-conserving surgery is also performed, where only the tumor is removed. Usually the surgeon will take one or more lymph nodes to determine if the cancer has metastasized.
- Radiotherapy. Patients may be treated with radiation or particles after surgery to help kill any cancer cells that may have been missed during surgery. If surgery is not possible, radiation therapy may be the primary treatment option.
- Chemotherapy. Patients will be given drugs by mouth or infusion to kill cancer cells. Patients may be able to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence with chemotherapy after surgery. Chemotherapy may be the primary therapy for men with advanced cancer or cancer that has metastasized to other parts of the body.
- Endocrine therapy. Some types of breast cancer require certain hormones to grow. Endocrine therapy blocks the action of these hormones and stops the growth of breast cancer. Endocrine therapy is usually more likely to be successful in men than in women because most men (about 90%) have hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. Tamoxifen is the standard endocrine treatment for male breast cancer. Sometimes, removal of the testicles reduces the amount of certain male hormones in the system. Men with male breast cancer should not take testosterone because this drug can cause breast cancer cells to grow.
Patients can reduce the risk of cancer recurrence with endocrine therapy after surgery. For men with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, endocrine therapy may be the primary therapy.
- Targeted therapy. Some men may have too much human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) protein, which can lead to rapid spread of cancer cells. Trastuzumab, a breast cancer drug approved to treat breast cancer that has metastasized to other parts of the body, inhibits the cancer cell growth-promoting effects of the protein, in addition to boosting the immune system’s ability to fight the cancer.
Remember, all patients with or who have recovered from breast cancer need to see a doctor for checkups for the rest of their lives. The key to staying healthy is to see your doctor regularly.