Male breast cancer: experience from a Malaysian tertiary centre

Singapore Med J. 2009 May;50(5):519-21.

Abstract

Introduction: Breast cancer is a rare condition among men with a reported incidence of about one percent. Nevertheless, it is thought to behave similarly in both genders. Due to its rarity, male breast cancer is not widely reported, especially in the Asian population.

Methods: In a five-year review of our breast cancer surgery series, about 1.6 percent involved male patients. There was a substantial delay in presentation among those men, whose mean age at presentation was 64 years.

Results: The majority of patients presented with a painless lump. Histologically, all tumours were ductal in origin and all patients had lower than stage III malignancies. The majority of patients underwent mastectomy and axillary lymph node dissection. All male patients were commenced on adjuvant tamoxifen. The longest survival was 54 months with all patients remaining tumour-free.

Conclusion: Malaysian men are at risk of breast cancer and seem to have a better prognosis.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / therapeutic use
  • Breast Neoplasms, Male / diagnosis
  • Breast Neoplasms, Male / drug therapy
  • Breast Neoplasms, Male / epidemiology*
  • Breast Neoplasms, Male / surgery
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Malaysia / epidemiology
  • Male
  • Mastectomy
  • Middle Aged
  • Prognosis
  • Risk Factors
  • Tamoxifen / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal
  • Tamoxifen