Men also have breast cancer and although the figure is not alarming, it is necessary to take into account certain factors to prevent
The incidence of breast cancer in men has increased in recent years with larger tumors and more aggressive growth than in women, according to a study released today at the website of the journal “Cancer.”
According to Sharon Giordano, professor of breast oncology at the University of Texas and author of the research, the increase was from 0.86 per 100,000 men in 1973 to 1.08 in 1998.
The oncologist says that the research results also indicate that breast cancer in men is biologically different from women.
“Breast cancer in men is rare (less than one percent of all cancer of this type) or about 1,600 new cases in the U.S. in 2004,” said Sharon.
The researcher said that “even with this small effect men should remain alert to the possibility that the disease affects them.”
With information provided by the National Cancer Institute, Giordano examined 2524 cases of cancer in men and 380,856 women. When compared to women, researchers found that men with breast cancer had higher mean age, 67 years vs. 62 years for women.
In addition, the disease had been discovered at an advanced stage when the cancer was gone to his lymph nodes.
“It’s ironic that tumors in men are easier to detect than in women. However, the disease is discovered them in a more advanced stage than in females,” said the oncologist.
Dr. Giordano said that in many cases, to detect growth, involve men experiencing a benign condition called gynecomastia, is an atypical growth of breast tissue that affects one third of men at some stage in his life, especially in adolescence.
The most common types of breast cancer in men are invasive ductal or unclassified carcinomas (93.4 percent) and papillary carcinoma, the study said.