Breast cancer health centre

Male breast cancer: Treatment options

Treatment for male breast cancer will depend on how advanced the cancer is and whether it has spread.

An operation to remove cancerous breast tissue may be recommended, along with radiotherapy, hormone therapy and chemotherapy.

What are the treatments for male breast cancer?

Treatments for breast cancer in men and women are generally the same. Many men benefit from a combination of different treatments. Here is an overview of the various approaches:

• Surgery. The typical treatment for men is a mastectomy, in which the entire breast is removed. Breast-conserving surgery, where just the tumour is taken out, is not usually possible for an obvious reason - men do not have much breast tissue to begin with. The surgeon will also take out one or more of the lymph nodes to see if the cancer has spread.
• Radiotherapy. Treatment with radioactive rays or particles is standard after surgery. It is used to help kill off any cancer cells that were missed. In some cases radiotherapy may be the main treatment.
• Chemotherapy. This is treatment with chemicals - either taken by mouth or by injection - that attack cancer cells. Chemotherapy is often used after surgery to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back. For men with advanced or metastatic cancer - which is cancer that has spread throughout the body - chemotherapy may be the primary treatment.
• Hormone Therapy. Some kinds of breast cancer need certain hormones to grow. Hormone therapy blocks the effects of these hormones, preventing the cancer from growing. Hormone therapy is often more successful in men than in women. This is because more men (about 90%) have hormone receptor-positive cancer. Your doctor might use tamoxifen or other hormone therapy treatments. Sometimes removal of the testes is used to reduce the amount of certain male hormones in the system. Hormone therapy is often used after surgery to lower the risk of the cancer coming back. For men with locally advanced or metastatic cancer, it may be the primary treatment.
• Biological therapy. This is a new approach. Some men have too much of a protein that makes cancer spread quickly. Trastuzumab is a type of biological therapy that has been approved to treat metastatic breast cancer. It stops this protein from making the cancer cells grow. It may also boost your immune system, giving it more strength to fight the cancer itself.

If you have had breast cancer or are recovering from it, you will need check-ups with your doctor for the rest of your life. Getting regular medical care is the key to staying healthy.