This is a retrospective study of the incidence and clinical profile of male breast cancer (MBC) presenting to a rural cancer center in Punjab, India. All MBC cases registered over a period of 4.5 years from January 2015 to July 2019 were included. The study included 34 MBC patients accounting for 1.9% of all breast cancer cases with median age of 62.5 years. All patients were from Punjab except one, with majority from district Sangrur. Family history was present in 7 (20.6%) patients. Mean BMI (n = 23) was 24.8. The median duration of symptoms was 6 months (range 1-60 months). Main complaint was lump in 58.8% of patients followed by lump with ulceration (41.2%). All cases were mostly unilateral, left in 21 (61.8%) and right in 13 (38.2%), and one had bilateral breast cancer. Most tumors were centrally located (70.6%). Infiltrating ductal carcinoma and grade 3 were the commonest histology. ER positivity was high seen in 76.5% cases. In our study, 16 (47.1%) patients presented with distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis, and 10 (39.1%) were locally advance. Bone (41%) followed by lung (17%) were the most common sites of metastasis. Thirteen patients were treated radically, nine were treated with palliative intent, and twelve patients defaulted. Median follow-up period was 16.5 months. MBC constituted 1.9% of all breast cancers registered at our institute, which is higher than worldwide average. Our study population had a longer time to presentation, and majority were metastatic.
Keywords: Male breast cancer; Rural center; Tata Memorial Center.
© Indian Association of Surgical Oncology 2021.