| Abstract [eng] |
Male breast cancer receives increasing attention during the recent years and more and more studies are being conducted. But, since male breast cancer is a very rare disease, large clinical trials are difficult to conduct, and therefore specific diagnostic and treatment guidelines still remain based on the experience from female breast cancer. However, several milestones have been archieved until now. These include the male-specific identification of risk factors like positive family history, black ethnecity, genetic mutations in the CHEK2, PALB2, CYP17, BRCA1, and BRCA2 genes, alterations of the estrogen to androgen ratio, and primary testicular conditions. Male breast cancer typically presents as a unilateral, painless, retroareolar mass with possible additional signs and symptoms. Furthermore, two main subtypes have been identified in male breast cancer: luminal A and luminal B. Histologically, invasive ductal carcinoma is the most common type and represents approximately 90% of the cases. The diagnosis is mainly established by the triple assessment, which includes clinical assessment, mammography/ultrasound and core biopsy. The staging process consists of the identification of the tumour size, lymph node involvement, estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor levels, human epidermal growth factor receptor status and tumour grade, and is classified according to the tumour-node-metastasis system. The rising knowledge about the prevalence of hormonal receptors such as estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, androgen receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor, and the genetic and hormonal influence in the pathogenesis, contributes to a positive view of the future. It will help to create male-specific treatment guidelines for each cancer stage, type and hormonal status with surgery, radiotherapy, endocrine therapy, chemotherapy, and biological targeted therapy. |
