Breast cancer
in men

People are often surprised to learn that men can get breast cancer, as they don’t think of men as having breasts. But, men have breast tissue which can develop into breast cancer.

Male breast cancer is rare and it is often diagnosed later than breast cancer in women. This may be because men are less likely to be suspicious of any abnormality in the chest area, and are less willing to visit their doctors. Also, as men have less breast tissue, it is harder to detect abnormalities early, meaning tumours can spread to surrounding tissues.

Risk factors of male breast cancer include:

Breast cancer in a close female relative
History of radiation exposure of the chest
Enlargement of breasts
Taking oestrogen
A rare genetic condition called Klinefelter’s syndrome
Severe liver disease
Diseases of the testicles such as mumps orchitis, a testicular injury, or an undescended testicle

Did you know?

Men with breast cancer respond much better to hormone therapy than women do.