Men and Breast Cancer

Do men get breast cancer? Breast cancer in men is rare, but it does happen. After all, men have breast tissue also. The overall ratio of female to male breast cancer in the U.S. is 100 to 1. Although it sounds like a small number, that is still roughly 1,450 men who will be diagnosed and about 470 who will die of the disease in 2004.

The most common symptoms of male breast cancer include a lump in the chest area, skin dimpling or puckering, or nipple changes. Because breast cancer is so much more common in females, many men do not even realize they can develop this disease. Unfortunately, this can delay diagnosis and as a result, some cancers are not found until they have progressed to a later stage. However, when cancer is found at the same stage among men and women, the survival rates are similar. Because the male breast is much smaller than the female breast, it is more likely the disease will spread to the chest wall. For this reason it is important to find the cancer early in order to successfully treat it.

Known factors that increase your risk of breast cancer include:
Getting older
Having family members (male or female) with breast cancer, especially with a BRCA2 mutation
Having your chest area exposed to radiation treatment, usually for cancer treatment such as Hodgkin’s disease
Chronic liver disorders
Having a genetic condition such as Klinefelter’s syndrome