Breast cancer in men: prognostic factors, treatment patterns, and outcome

The aim of this study was to review the clinical presentation and to evaluate prognostic factors, treatment modalities, outcome, and second malignancy in male breast cancer patients. A chart review was conducted of all men treated for breast cancer between January 1991 and December 2007. Cox proportional hazards regression model and Kaplan-Meier curve were used to determine prognostic factors and plot survival probabilities. Invasive carcinoma was diagnosed in 22 patients and ductal carcinoma in situ in 7 patients. With mortality as the endpoint, tumor size indicated hazard ratio (HR) of 1.5 for each 1-cm increase in tumor size (p = .03). Overall stage and increased age were associated with increased risk of mortality (HR = 2.1, p = .055; HR = 1.09 for a 1-year increase in age, p = .08, respectively). Adjuvant radiation therapy yielded an HR of 0.1 (p = .058), indicating a favorable association with the survival. Advanced age, higher stage, and increasing tumor size were unfavorable to survival in male breast carcinoma. The benefit of adjuvant radiation therapy should be addressed in future collaborative studies.