Breast disease in men in metropolitan São Paulo - Brazil

Although rare, breast cancer in males represents 1% of all cancer in men, and has shown increasing incidence in 25 years. To analyze age, gender, type of procedure performed and diagnosis of all cases of breast diseases in a public hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with special focus on men. Cross-sectional study of breast surgery in 2010-2014 at Hospital Municipal Universitario de Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil. In the period 999 breast surgery were carried out. Patients with benign diseases were about 30 years old and patients with malignant diseases were over 50. Most surgical procedures performed on men were on the benign condition of gynaecomastia (n=21). The prevalence of breast cancer in the male population attending the public health system in Sao Bernardo was 0.27 (per 100,000). There was a single record of malignant disease in men, a 65 years old man, with histological diagnosis of ductal carcinoma. Surgical pathology of the breast in men is a rare event, and accounts for about 2.4% of mammary surgery in the municipality of São Bernardo do Campo. Awareness is necessary for health professionals and the media, regarding breast pathologies in the male population, to reduce the prejudice in the search for an early diagnosis of a condition so strongly linked to the female for the majority of people.