Male breast cancer: a different disease than female breast cancer?(Brief Review)(Disease/Disorder overview)

An estimated 1,450 new cases of male breast cancer were diagnosed in the United States in 2004 compared with 215,990 new cases of breast cancer in women and only 470 men as compared with 40,110 women died as a result of breast cancer. (1) These facts show the lower incidence of breast cancer in men and its comparable higher cancer-specific death rate.

Despite the increasing incidence of male breast cancer, it remains an uncommon cancer, accounting for less than 1% of all cancers in men. Because of the rarity of this cancer, randomized and prospective data are lacking. All studies are based on a small series of patients. Optimal management is not clearly established and is ...