Background

Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease that accounts for less than 1% of all diagnosed breast cancers and less than 1% of all cancers in men. Prognosis depends upon tumour size, histological grade, nodal status, hormone receptor status and it is equivalent to that in stage-matched female patients.

Methods

In this study we retrospectively evaluated consecutive data from medical records 166 MBC cases diagnosed from 1991 to 2020 at the Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia.

Results

Median age at diagnosis was 65 years (range 29-90). Most patients were diagnosed in clinical stage II and III (77%). Modified radical mastectomy was performed in about 75%, while others underwent simplex mastectomy or wide excision. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the most common histological type (71,7%), predominantly grade 2 (73,5%). Most tumours were less than 5 cm in diameter (69,3%). About 35,5% of patients had negative axillary lymph nodes involvement, 19,9% up to 3 positives, 19,9% had more than 3 positive axillary lymph nodes. Most tumours were oestrogen and progesterone receptor positive (63,2%), for about 32% hormone receptor status is unknown (data from '90), and only three patient had human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, HER 2 positive breast cancer. About 38% of patients were treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, 64,5% had adjuvant hormonotherapy, 56,6% had postoperative radiotherapy. During period of follow-up (range 1- 11 years) 36,7% of patients had relapse of disease (61/166): locoregional in 10,8% (18/166), bones only 12% (20/166), visceral organs 13,8% (23/166). They were predominantly treated with systemic hormonotherapy (44/61), mostly tamoxifen, 20 patients received chemotherapy, 31 patient underwent palliative radiotherapy. During follow-up 56 patients died due to disease progression (33,7%).

Conclusions

MBC patients had more advanced disease at the presentation. Like postmenopausal women majority of the tumours were hormone receptor positive, treated mainly on the same principles as female breast cancer. Ongoing analysis will compare survival in females with breast cancer matched with known prognostic factors.

Legal entity responsible for the study

The authors.

Funding

Has not received any funding.

Disclosure

All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Background

Breast cancer (BC) in men is treated as per the recommendations for menopausal women with BC. Despite the favorable tumor biology in men, survival outcomes are worse as compared to women. We aimed to study the tumor biology and stage at diagnosis of men with BC in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia.

Methods

This is a retrospective study of men with invasive BC, diagnosed at Medical University Pleven, Bulgaria (2002-2020), Institute of Oncology Cluj-Napoca, Romania (2000-2020) and Institute of Radiology and Oncology in Belgrade, Serbia (2000-2018).

Results

A total of 318 men with BC were included. Mean age and stage distribution at diagnosis are shown in the table. The mean age at diagnosis was significantly lower in Romania, compared to Serbia. About 80% of patients from each country had invasive ductal cancer. The rate of invasive lobular cancer ranged from 0.6% in Romania to 8.9% in Serbia. The receptor status subtype was unknown in almost half of the patients from each country. Among patients with known receptor status, over 93% were positive for at least one of the hormonal receptors. None of the patients had a HER2-overexpressing tumor subtype. Table: 172P

Number of patients included per country, age and stage at diagnosis

Conclusions

As a rare disease, BC in men is a difficult and uncommon diagnosis. This is why, not only in Eastern Europe, it is diagnosed at a later stage, compared to women. In our study more than 80% of patients have regional lymph node metastases at diagnosis. Similarly to other reports, the vast majority of our patients had invasive ductal histology and hormone receptors expressing tumors. Raising the awareness of male BC, closer follow up and optimized registration could improve the outcomes of this disease.

Editorial acknowledgement

Minka Yordanova - expert systemic software for databases, Bulgarian National Cancer Registry; Prof. Zdravka Valerianova Chief of Bulgarian National Cancer Registry.

Legal entity responsible for the study

The authors.

Funding

Has not received any funding.

Disclosure

All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.