Male breast cancer in Tripoli, Libya

To study the epidemiology, characteristics, and survival of male breast cancer patients.

This non-randomized retrospective study includes male patients with breast cancer confirmed by biopsy. A total of 1568 breast cancer patients were registered in the Oncology Department, Tripoli Medical Center, Tripoli, Libya between January 1990 to June 2008. Twenty-two patients were male (1.4%).

The mean age of male breast cancer patients was 61 years. They tend to have advanced local disease, as 65% of them were tumor (T)3 and T4, and 93.3% have positive lymph nodes. The preferred surgical treatment was mastectomy and axillary clearance in 65%, and 85% had invasive duct carcinoma. Regarding hormone receptor status, 70% were estrogen and progesterone positive. A total of 71% received chemotherapy as anthracycline based. During follow up, the overall recurrence rate was 47%. The bone was the most common site of relapse (37.5%). Overall survival rate was 82.4% at first, 76.5% at second, and 57% at fifth year. Two patients were brothers, and one of them developed multiple myeloma during follow up.

In comparison to female patients with breast cancer, male patients are older, and have more advanced and more hormone positive disease.