It is important for a man to report a palpable mass in his breast and sometimes and ultrasound guided needle biopsy is done if there is enough evidence to warrant doing so. Mammography is very good at detecting male breast cancer but it is important that clinically it be correlated as well. Usually mammography is done on both sides just so there is a baseline or understanding of what the breast/chest area demonstrates. As always we should check lymph nodes. There may be false positives when we are looking at some of the radiological tests which could come from fat, or abscesses, or gynecomastia which is rather common and actually is just enlargement of the breast tissue. Now having said all that, I will bring to the forefront the issue that it is not easy to get a man to the doctor even if he has a significant cut or broken arm. Then to add to that we are talking a disease that is more known in the female arena and that adds to the delay in follow up by the patient to get to the doctor. I encourage all to do a monthly self breast exam and keep your body running in tune and properly as much or more so than you do your car. Make it a great day! S
Male breast cancer is very similar to female breast cancer when we look at prognosis, treatment, and family history although it is rare. Risk factors are again similar as we look at the BRCA mutation and hormone related issues, obesity and radiation exposure just to name a few. Male cancer is normally invasive ductal or DCIS because males lack lobular units. Most of the male breast cancers are estrogen and progesterone positive like in female breast cancers. There are approximately 2000 men a year diagnosed with breast cancer.
It is important for a man to report a palpable mass in his breast and sometimes and ultrasound guided needle biopsy is done if there is enough evidence to warrant doing so. Mammography is very good at detecting male breast cancer but it is important that clinically it be correlated as well. Usually mammography is done on both sides just so there is a baseline or understanding of what the breast/chest area demonstrates. As always we should check lymph nodes. There may be false positives when we are looking at some of the radiological tests which could come from fat, or abscesses, or gynecomastia which is rather common and actually is just enlargement of the breast tissue. Now having said all that, I will bring to the forefront the issue that it is not easy to get a man to the doctor even if he has a significant cut or broken arm. Then to add to that we are talking a disease that is more known in the female arena and that adds to the delay in follow up by the patient to get to the doctor. I encourage all to do a monthly self breast exam and keep your body running in tune and properly as much or more so than you do your car. Make it a great day! S
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AuthorMy name is Sue Kilburn and I am a clinical nurse breast cancer educator at the Yolanda G. Barco Oncology Institute in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Archives
March 2015
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