Older men and those within certain high-risk categories should be checked regularly for breast cancer, a Tainan doctor said, citing a male patient who was diagnosed with the disease while being treated for hepatitis B and other conditions.
A 65-year-old who was in hospital for hepatitis B, chronic kidney disease and high blood pressure three years ago was also checked for breast cancer when a lump was discovered in his right breast, Kuo General Hospital physician Huang Tai-chien (黃太謙) said, adding that the man’s family had no history of cancer.
“He came to Kuo General Hospital to get a second diagnosis after his regular physician told him he had breast cancer. An examination confirmed stage 1B breast cancer and a tumor of 2.3cm in size,” he said.
The hospital performed a total mastectomy and removed a lymphatic node from the man’s armpit, followed by chemotherapy and hormone treatment, he said, adding that the man has not experienced any relapse of cancer in the three years since the surgery.
The five-year survival rate for those with stage 1B breast cancer who undergo treatment is 95 percent, he said.
About one in every 100,000 men will develop breast cancer each year, which is 1 percent of the number of women who are affected by the disease, Huang said.
Men who develop symptoms such as a hard, painless lump in the breast, a nipple that turns inward, discharge from the nipple, a sore or rash around the nipple that does not go away, hardness of the nipple or surrounding skin, or small swollen bumps in the armpit should consult a physician for an examination, he said.
Those who might be at higher risk for breast cancer include those with a family history of cancer, those who inherit defective BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, and those with conditions that increase estrogen production such as obesity, Klinefelter syndrome and cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), Huang said.
“Those over 60 are more at risk, but since most diagnoses are incidental, it’s hard to define a clear-cut cause of the disease,” he said. “However, we do know that those with genetic disorders are as much as 100 percent more likely to be afflicted.”
Breast cancer is not an inevitability in men who produce increased estrogen and develop larger breasts, he said.
“It’s not like what we see in people with hepatitis, where cirrhosis and liver cancer are natural developments,” he said. “Although, we can say with certainty that men with breast cancer have hormonal imbalances.”
Those who have any concerns about increased estrogen levels, or who display the symptoms described above, should get a breast exam to receive early treatment, he said.
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