Breast Cancer in Men: A fraction of the risk for women

SHAH ALAM - While the risk of breast cancer among men is real it remains significantly lower compared to women, with experts revealing that the likelihood of men developing breast cancer stands at around 0.1 per cent, a fraction of the risk faced by women.

In sharing these insights, UM Specialist Centre oncoplastic breast surgeon Dr Teoh Li Ying said factors contributing to the increased cancer risk among men were mostly due to exposure to high estrogen hormones over their lifetime and a family history of breast cancer.

“The most important factor is the family history.

“It is so, if the male has a strong family history of having both female and male counterparts of their family has breast cancer," she said in the latest episode of Sinar Daily’s Life and Style podcast titled Evolving Trends in Breast Surgery and Breast Cancer Treatments.

In terms of symptoms, co-panel Associate Professor Dr See Me Hong, who is also an oncoplastic breast surgeon at UM Specialist Centre, noted that male patients can easily detect breast lumps due to their thin breast tissue.

However, she highlighted a concerning aspect: once diagnosed with breast cancer, male patients typically have slightly lower survival rates compared to their female counterparts.

"In men, it (breast cancer) tends to progress very fast because their breast tissue is not much so, it’s the small area so when they progress is quite fast," she said.

Both Dr Teoh and Dr See also emphasised the importance of seeking medical attention should men detect a lump under their nipple.

According to statistics from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, approximately 2,800 men will receive a breast cancer diagnosis, and around 530 will succumb to the disease.

This data indicates that roughly one in 833 men will develop breast cancer during their lifetime. Recent studies also showed that majority of patients presented with a painless lump while histologically, all tumours were ductal in origin and all patients had lower than stage three malignancies.