Can men get breast cancer?
Cancer of the breast is not limited to women. Like women, men also have breast cells, much less breast tissue than women though, that can experience cancerous changes. Although women are hundred times more likely to suffer from breast cancer, any man can develop it. It is most common in men who are between the ages of 60 and 70.
What causes male breast cancer?
What triggers abnormal cell growth in the breast tissue of men is not known in most of the male breast cancer cases. However, what is known to the doctors is that between 5 percent and 10 percent of breast cancers in men are inherited. BRCA1 or BCRA2, the breast cancer gene 1 and 2 respectively, when defected, put men at higher risk of breast cancer development. Other inherited genes also may play a part toward breast cancer development in men. Many of the breast cancer-related genetic mutations are not inherited, but develop during your lifetime instead. Radiation exposure like receiving chest radiation therapy in childhood, or other factors, which are yet unknown, can result in obtained mutations.
How male breast cancer is diagnosed?
Male breast cancer can be diagnosed the same as breast cancer in women is diagnosed. It was in a more advanced stage that male breast cancer was often diagnosed. Nevertheless, this is no longer a case. In spite of the fact that breast cancer in women and male breast cancer are similar, important distinctions such as breast size and awareness affect early prognosis and survival in male breast cancer cases.
What are the treatment options for male breast cancer?
They are the same as for women breast cancer and include:
- Surgery (typically not feasible for men as men’s breast does not contain much tissue underneath the nipple)
- Simple Mastectomy
- Modified Radical Mastectomy
- Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy
- Therapies
- Radiation Therapy
- Chemotherapy
- Hormone Therapy through Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone Analogs
- Hormone Therapy through Antiandrogen Drugs
- Biological Therapy
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