[Male breast cancer--our experience]

Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease which represents only about 0.2% of all cancers. The ratio of female to male breast cancer is approximately 100:1. In this study, we review our experience with diagnosis, surgical treatment, and overall management of patients with MBC.

Overall, 5384 breast cancer patients underwent surgery in Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, Brno, Czech Republic during the period of 2001 to 2009. Among these, seventeen were men. In these patients, data on incidence, clinical symptoms, diagnostic procedures, types of surgical resection, histopathology, adjuvant systematic therapy, genetic investigation and therapeutic results were retrospectively reviewed from their medical records.

None of the patients have distant metastases at the time of surgery. In sixteen cases an invasive cancer was histopathologically diagnosed, one patient had ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Eight patients exhibited locally advanced stage of the disease (IIIB). All patients were primarily treated surgically; in no case neoadjuvant therapy was recommended. From the five patients operated primarily elsewhere, four underwent completion of modified radical mastectomy (RAME) at our institution and one patient underwent subcutaneous (nipple-sparing) mastectomy without the surgery on lymph nodes. Twelve patients were primarily diagnosed and operated at our institution. Ten of these were scheduled for RAME, one patient was recommended total mastectomy with sentinel lymph node biopsy, and one patient underwent total mastectomy without surgery on regional lymph nodes. Adjuvant therapy overall comprised radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and biological therapy. Investigation of BRCA genes was suggested in nine patients, but the results of only four of them are available to date. Two patients exhibited a mutation in BRCA genes. One mutation is explicitly pathogenic; another case represents variation with unknown clinical effect. Twelve patients of the cohort are in complete remission, two are alive with distant metastases and three died (two on cancer, one on cardiovascular disease).

Our study should point out a rare form of mammary tumors--male breast cancer. There are some particular differences between male and female breast cancer though the overall clinical management of both is generally similar. There is a necessity of appropriate health education to prevent late diagnosis of breast cancer in men. Genetic testing should be recommended to every male patient with this disease.