Breast cancer isn’t just a woman’s disease. Men also have breast tissue that can undergo cancerous changes. While women are about 100 times more likely to get breast cancer, any man can develop breast cancer. Male breast cancer is most common between the ages of 60 and 70.
The prognosis for male breast cancer is the same as for breast cancer in women. In the past, male breast cancer was often diagnosed at a more advanced stage, which may have led people to believe it had a worse prognosis. Although male breast cancer and breast cancer in women are similar, important distinctions such as breast size and awareness affect early diagnosis and survival in cases of male breast cancer.
Symptoms
Knowing the signs and symptoms of breast cancer may help save your life. The earlier the disease is discovered, the more treatment options and the better chance of recovery you have.
The most common sign of breast cancer for both men and women is a lump or thickening in the breast. Often the lump is painless. Other male breast cancer symptoms include:
- Skin dimpling or puckering
- Development of a new retraction or indentation of the nipple
- Changes in the nipple or breast skin, such as scaling or redness
- Nipple discharge
Causes
Cancer is a group of abnormal cells that grow more rapidly than do normal cells. Cancer cells also have the ability to invade and destroy normal tissues, either by growing directly into surrounding structures or after traveling to another part of your body through your bloodstream or lymphatic system. Microscopic cancer cells form small clusters that continue to grow, becoming more densely packed and hard.
In most cases it isn’t clear what triggers abnormal cell growth in breast tissue in men. But doctors do know that about one in six cases of breast cancers in men are inherited, compared with about 5 percent to 10 percent of breast cancers in women. Defects in breast cancer gene 1 or 2 (BRCA 1 or BCRA 2) put you at greater risk of developing breast cancer. Other inherited genes also may increase your risk of developing breast cancer. Knowing your family history is important to determine your chance of inheriting an abnormal gene.
Most genetic mutations related to breast cancer aren’t inherited, but instead develop during your lifetime. These acquired mutations may result from radiation exposure, such as receiving chest radiation therapy in childhood, or from other, as yet unknown, factors.
Risk factors
A risk factor is anything that makes it more likely you’ll get a particular disease. But not all risk factors are created equal. Some, such as your age, sex and family history, can’t be changed. Others, including smoking and a poor diet, are personal choices over which you have some control.
Having one or even several risk factors doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll become sick — some men with more than one risk factor never get breast cancer, whereas others with no identifiable risk factors do.
Factors that may make you more susceptible to breast cancer include:
- Age. Breast cancer is most commonly diagnosed in men between the ages of 60 and 70, with an average age range of 65 to 67.
- Family history. If you have a close relative, such as a mother or sister, with breast cancer, you have a greater chance of also developing the disease. About one in five men with breast cancer have a relative who’s had it, too. Just because you have a family history of breast cancer doesn’t mean it’s hereditary, though.
- Genetic predisposition. In men, nearly 20 percent of breast cancers are inherited. Defects in one of several genes, especially BRCA1 or BRCA2 put you at greater risk of developing breast and prostate cancers. Usually these genes help prevent cancer by making proteins that keep cells from growing abnormally. But if they have a mutation, the genes aren’t as effective at protecting you from cancer.
Men with a BRCA2 mutation have a 6 percent lifetime risk of breast cancer — about 100 times more than other men’s risk. Inherited mutations in the cell-cycle checkpoint kinase 2 (CHEK-2) gene and the p53 tumor suppressor gene also make it more likely that you’ll develop breast cancer.
- Radiation exposure. If you received radiation treatments to your chest as a child or young adult, you’re more likely to develop breast cancer later in life.
- Klinefelter’s syndrome. This condition results from an abnormality of the sex chromosomes, X and Y, present at birth (congenital). A male normally has only one X and one Y chromosome. In Klinefelter’s syndrome, two or more X chromosomes are present in addition to one Y chromosome. The Y chromosome contains the genetic material that determines the sex of a child and related development.
The extra X chromosome that occurs in Klinefelter’s syndrome causes abnormal development of the testicles. As a result, men with this syndrome produce lower levels of certain male hormones — androgens — and more female hormones — estrogens, which can cause noncancerous breast growth (gynecomastia). Men with this condition may be at greater risk of breast cancer, though this connection is still unclear.
- Exposure to estrogen. If you take estrogen-related drugs, such as those used as part of a sex change procedure, you have a much higher risk of breast cancer. Estrogen drugs may also be used in hormone therapy for prostate cancer. Such drugs may slightly increase your risk of breast cancer, though not enough to outweigh the benefit of treating prostate cancer.
- Liver disease. If you have liver disease, such as cirrhosis of the liver, your body’s androgen activity may be reduced and its estrogen activity greater. This can increase your risk of gynecomastia and breast cancer.
- Excess weight. Obesity may be a risk factor for breast cancer in men, because it increases the number of fat cells in the body. Fat cells convert androgens into estrogen, increasing the amount of estrogen in your body and, therefore, your risk of breast cancer.
- Excessive use of alcohol. If you drink heavy amounts of alcohol, you have a greater risk of breast cancer.