Male breast cancer: a single institutional clinicopathological profiling

Abstract

Background/Aim: Male breast cancer (MBC) is an infrequent occurrence accounting for <1% of overall breast cancers. With limited data, MBC remains a therapeutic challenge, warranting the need for meticulous recording of all cases encountered. Patients and Methods: A retrospective observational study in an Indian tertiary public hospital where 29 MBC cases registered between August 2020 and July 2023 were recorded and their epidemiological data, clinical profile, treatment history and survival data were analyzed. Results: MBC was 3% of all breast cancer cases reported in three years, and the most common age group affected was between 41 and 60 years. Most cases presented at Stage IIIB, with the majority showing axillary nodal involvement. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the most frequent histology with luminal B and triple-negative variants having the highest incidence. Most patients underwent upfront surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. At the end of one year, 50% of patients were found to survive with no disease progression. Conclusion: Our results corroborate with previously recorded experience with MBC in terms of age distribution, stage of presentation, histology and treatment offered. However, our results demonstrated a higher proportion of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cases, as compared to previous literature. The increment of TNBC cases among males, therefore, reassures the need for breast cancer (BRCA) gene testing among all males afflicted with breast cancer.