Health To Way Q&A Men’s Health

How to treat breast cancer in men

Asked by:Snowdrop

Asked on:Apr 11, 2026 07:30 AM

Answers:1 Views:482
  • Arrie Arrie

    Apr 11, 2026

    When it comes to breast cancer, everyone thinks that it is a disease only found in women. In fact, although the incidence of breast cancer is indeed higher in women, this does not mean that men will not suffer from breast cancer. Many men will also suffer from breast cancer due to some special reasons. Of course, this disease is also very harmful to male patients. Below, I will introduce to you the treatment methods for male breast cancer!

    1. Surgical treatment

    (1) Modified radical resection is suitable for patients without pectoral muscle invasion.

    (2) For patients with pectoral muscle invasion, radical resection or extended radical resection is the main surgical approach. Because tumors located in the areola area can easily metastasize to the inner breast area and axillary lymph nodes ; Therefore, if radiotherapy equipment is not available and there are contraindications to radiotherapy, extended radical resection is highly indicated. If you have the above equipment, you can consider radical surgery and additional postoperative radiotherapy, but be careful when choosing modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer. ; It is even more unsuitable to choose a procedure less than a simple mastectomy.

    2. Radiotherapy

    Male breast cancer has breast characteristics and a rich network of lymphatic vessels under the nipple and areola. If the tumor is small, lymph node metastasis will occur in the inner breast area or armpit. Therefore, postoperative radiotherapy to the internal mammary area, armpit, supraclavicular and chest wall is necessary. Radiotherapy treatment can be divided into: postoperative radiotherapy ; Preoperative radiotherapy ; Radiation therapy for tumor recurrence.

    3. Chemotherapy

    Preoperative additional chemotherapy for male breast cancer and postoperative chemotherapy for patients with positive lymph node metastasis and negative ER are expected to improve the survival rate. According to the theory of cytology, postoperative chemotherapy should be started early, generally no more than 1 month after surgery. If circumstances permit, chemotherapy should be continued within 1 year after surgery.

    4. Endocrine therapy

    Mainly used for male breast cancer patients with advanced or recurrent breast cancer.

    5. Prognosis

    Male breast cancer patients are characterized by older age, longer disease course, and poor prognosis. However, if detected early and treated promptly, the prognosis will be the same as that of women. The factors that affect the prognosis of male breast cancer are mainly pathological type, stage, treatment method and the presence or absence of lymph node metastasis at the time of diagnosis.

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