Breast cancer: Breast cancer in men

Men don't have breasts. How can men get breast cancer?

Even though men do not have breasts like women, they do have a small amount of breast tissue. In fact, the "breasts" of an adult man are similar to the breasts of a girl before puberty, and consist of a few ducts surrounded by breast and other tissue. In girls, this tissue grows and develops in response to female hormones, but in men -- who do not secrete the same amounts of these hormones -- this tissue does not develop.

However, because it is still breast tissue, men can develop breast cancer. In fact, men get the same types of breast cancers as women do, although cancers involving the milk producing and storing regions of the breast are very rare. According to Cancer Research UK, about 300 cases of breast cancer in men are diagnosed each year in the UK, compared with more than 45,500 cases in women..

Why do I not hear about breast cancer in men as much as I hear about breast cancer in women?

Breast cancer in men is a very rare disease. This is possibly due to their smaller amount of breast tissue and the fact that men produce smaller amounts of hormones like oestrogen that are known to affect breast cancers in women.

In fact, only about 1 in 140 breast cancers affect men and only about 10 men in 1.4 million will develop breast cancer.

Which men are more likely to get breast cancer?

It is very rare for a man under age 35 to get breast cancer, but the likelihood of developing the disease increases with age, with most being detected between the ages of 60 and 70 years. Family history in a close female relative and a history of radiation exposure of the chest can also increase the risk.

The clearest risk for developing breast cancer seems to be in men who have had an abnormal enlargement of their breasts (called gynaecomastia) in response to drug or hormone treatments, or even some infections and poisons. Individuals with a rare genetic disease called Klinefelter's syndrome, who often have gynaecomastia as part of the syndrome, are especially prone to develop breast cancer. Men with severe liver disease tend to have lower levels of male hormones (androgens) and higher levels of female hormones (oestrogens) putting them at an increased risk of developing gynaecomastia and breast cancer.

How serious is breast cancer in men?

Doctors used to think that breast cancer in men was a more severe disease than it was in women, but it now seems that for comparably advanced breast cancers, men and women have similar outcomes.

The major problem is that breast cancer in men is often diagnosed later than breast cancer in women. This may be because men are less likely to be suspicious of an abnormality in that area. In addition, their small amount of breast tissue is harder to feel -- making it more difficult to catch these cancers early, and allowing tumours to spread more quickly to the surrounding tissues.