Male breast cancer is a rare cancer that forms in the breast tissue of men. Though breast cancer is most commonly thought of as a woman’s disease, male breast cancer does occur. Male breast cancer is most common in older men, though it can occur at any age.

You may be thinking: Men don’t have breasts, so how can they get breast cancer? The truth is that boys and girls, men and women all have breast tissue. The various hormones in girls’ and women’s bodies stimulate the breast tissue to grow into full breasts. Boys’ and men’s bodies normally don’t make much of the breast-stimulating hormones. As a result, their breast tissue usually stays flat and small. Still, you may have seen boys and men with medium-sized or big breasts. Usually these breasts are just mounds of fat. But sometimes men can develop real breast gland tissue because they take certain medicines or have abnormal hormone levels.

Because breast cancer in men is rare, few cases are available to study. Most studies of men with breast cancer are very small. But when a number of these small studies are grouped together, we can learn more from them.

Men diagnosed with male breast cancer at an early stage have a good chance for a cure. Still, many men delay seeing their doctors if they notice one of the usual signs or symptoms, such as a breast lump. For this reason, many male breast cancers are diagnosed when the disease is more advanced.

Statistics

Less than 1% of all breast cancers occur in men. American Cancer Society estimates: in 2016, about 2,600 men are expected to be diagnosed with the disease and about 440 men will die from breast cancer. For men, the lifetime risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000. There are about 350 men diagnosed each year in the UK, compared with around 50,000 cases of breast cancer in women.

Related Topics

Benign breast conditions

General Breast Cancer Terms

Types of Male Breast Cancer

References

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancerinmen/detailedguide/breast-cancer-in-men-what-is-breast-cancer-in-men

http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/types/male_bc

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/type/rare-cancers/rare-cancers-name/breast-cancer-in-men

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/male-breast-cancer/basics/coping-support/con-20025972

Oncologists, Breast Surgeons are the specialists who deal with the breast cancer