Male Breast Cancer
November 29, 2008
Although breast cancer is mostly common in women sometimes men are also the victim of this disease. Men possess a negligible amount of breast tissue which is absolutely non- functioning and locates behind the nipple on the chest wall and male breast cancer implies malignant growth of these tissues.
Male breast cancer is a rare disease although occurrence of this disease is seen in 1 male out of 1000 men. One research survey shows that where the events of death due to male breast cancer are 480 per year, almost 40,000 women die per year due to female breast cancer.
Although rarely found, this disease affects males commonly at the age between 60 and 70; the cancerous condition can develop in the male body at any age. Average life risk of a man from breast cancer is 1%.
The most common symptom find in case of male breast cancer is a no-paining lump of about 2.5 cm in diameter range below the nipple like a firm mass, and the skin area around the lump may change visibly.
These changes include retraction of nipple, ulceration of the nipple around skin area, redness of nipple, and in some cases bloody or opaque type of discharge is visible from nipple. In advanced stage weight loss, lethargy, and malaise are observed in the breast cancer affected patients.
Although the causes which initiates male breast cancer is not known till date very clearly, but doctors have listed some obvious situations under which this type of cancer may develop radically.
Exposure to ionizing radiation increases the risk for developing breast cancer. People who ever required going through radiation therapy may have more risk of developing breast cancer.
In normal cases the presence of female hormone estrogen is negligible in male body but certain conditions initiate high level of estrogen in male body. This condition may lead to Gynecomastia as well as developing breast cancer.
Cirrhosis of liver is another prevalent cause in developing male breast cancer. In this condition due to malfunctioning of liver somehow affects hormonal arrangement of a person causing high level of estrogen in case of cirrhosis affected patients, which may develop male breast cancer in later period.
Klinefelter’s syndrome is a disease where the person inherits an extra chromosome from this parental side and that extra chromosome induces high level of estrogen along with some other abnormal symptoms in male body like enlarged breast, small testes, inability to produce sperm etc. Male breast cancer is often observed in these people.
Surgery is common treatment for male breast cancer and in addition chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and radiation therapy is used as treatment procedure.
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