Breast cancer in men is a rare disease and accounts for only about 1% of all cases of the disease. It would seem that since men "don't have" breasts, this topic should not concern them. However, everyone's breast, regardless of gender, is made up of tissue that, like other parts of the body, can become cancerous. It is worth taking a closer look at this problem.
Every healthy male has a certain small amount of female hormones in the body, but not enough to contribute to breast development. In women, during sexual maturation, a number of hormones induce the growth and development of the breasts, while in men this tissue remains undeveloped, and if we can observe larger breasts in men, they are usually the result of being overweight or obese.
However, under the influence of certain medications or hormonal abnormalities, this 'basal' tissue can also change, including becoming a site for the development of a cancerous tumour - although not all abnormalities associated with breast changes in men are necessarily cancerous. Breast cancer in men is rather rare, but several common conclusions can be drawn from the cases collected.
Risk factors
It is important to understand the risk factors and incidence of this disease, especially as it is unlikely to be covered by standard, routine medical examinations. As a result, when this cancer is detected, it is most often already at an advanced stage of development. Factors that favour the development of the disease are:
- ageing. This cancer can affect a patient of any age, but it is very rare for a man under the age of 35 to suffer from this disease; most often the diagnosis is made around the age of 60 or 70;
- high levels of oestrogen, which can be the result of hormone therapy. Estrogen stimulates the development of the breast, thereby building up the tissue in which cancer can develop;
- overweight and obesity, which causes hormonal changes;
- poor diet (e.g. eating a lot of meat from animals fed with hormones for faster growth);
- alcohol abuse and liver disease (which then has a reduced ability to regulate hormone levels in the blood);
- klinefelter's syndrome (signifying chromosome aberrations and associated endocrine disruption);
- strong genetic load;
- a history of radiotherapy, especially during puberty and before the age of 30;
- a history of orchidectomy (surgical removal of the testicle, either unilateral or bilateral, which generally serves to treat testicular cancer).
photo: panthermedia
Symptoms and diagnosis
Statistics show that the incidence of this cancer is increasing, but it is still a very small percentage of all cancers. At one time, doctors believed that male breast cancers were more difficult to treat than female cancers. Over time, this has changed and another problem has been noted that contributes to treatment complications - in the case of men, it takes up to nineteen months from noticing the first symptom to seeing a doctor, and this period is sufficient for the cancer to fully develop.
