Breast Cancer in Men
I’m not entirely sure why but it still seems that a large number people don’t know that males can and do get breast cancer.
While the statistics are significantly lower for men to get breast cancers, it still happens. According to breastcancer.org, those numbers are roughly less than 1% of breast cancer diagnoses, which means roughly 1 in every 1,000 people diagnosed with breast cancer, are male. Still, despite it being rare, the risk is still steadily increasing over the years.
Despite men not having breasts like women, they still have breast TISSUE.
Usually men with bigger breast tissue just have fat overloads, however, some men can develop the breast gland tissue. The development of that gland tissue can be caused by certain medications or abnormal hormone levels. Those abnormal hormones are are elevated estrogen levels. They cause breast cell growth (normal and abnormal.) but what causes those elevated hormone levels? Medications with hormones, being overweight, estrogen found in the environment around you (i.e, beef cattle, or pesticides), alcohol use – too much alcohol can prevent the liver from working properly, liver disease – if the liver isn’t working properly, it cannot regulate properly and produces lower levels of androgens and higher levels of estrogen. This in-turn increases the risk of breast cancer as well as non-cancerous breast growth.
Because men don’t typically think of getting breast cancer and there is no regular screenings like there is for women, breast cancer in men is usually higher risk because by the time it’s found, it’s advanced stages. Men that are 68 or older are also at a higher risk, ask increases the risk.
Radiation exposure is another way men can get breast cancer.
Klinefelter syndrome is another. KS leads to a lower level of androgens and a higher level of estrogen. Again, this increases the risk of cancerous and non-cancerous growths. Along with breast cancer, KS can cause men to have longer legs, high voices, thin beards, small testicles, and infertility.
Family genetics –
men with abnormal BRCA1 (1%) or BRCA2 genes (6%) have a risk of getting breast cancer.
Important symptoms to know: Lumps in the breast or armpit areas, inverted or painful nipples, clear or bloody nipple discharge, nipple sores. Just like in women, early detection is key. Don’t wait.
How are men diagnosed with breast cancer?
Same as women! There are several different ways – mammograms, which are x-ray pictures of the breast. Ultrasound, which is when high-frequency sound waves are send through the tissue and converted into an image. Nipple discharge examinations, which is when the abnormal fluid from the nipples is collected and tested. Finally, biopsies. There are four different types of biopsies that you can have done. The first is called a fine needle biopsies which is a biopsy that’s done of the palpable lesions. They are the least invasive and usually done right there are the office. It can take up to a day to get your results back. The second is stereotactic needle, which is when they remove more than one piece of the lump. If they cannot find it, they’ll use ultrasound technology to help find it. After that is an incisional biopsy which is a minor surgery where they’ll go in and extract a piece of tissue to test. This is a larger sample of tissue that’s taken. Finally, excisional biopsy this is the most invasive and they try to take the entire lump for testing instead of just a piece. From there, additional testing may be required before treatment.
Treatment is based patient by patient just like it is for women. It all depends on the severity of the cancer.
