Multidisciplinary meeting on male breast cancer: summary and research recommendations

Abstract

Male breast cancer is a rare disease, accounting for less than 1% of all breast cancer diagnoses worldwide. Most data on male breast cancer comes from small single-institution studies, and because of the paucity of data, the optimal treatment for male breast cancer is not known. This article summarizes a multidisciplinary international meeting on male breast cancer, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health Office of Rare Diseases and the National Cancer Institute Divisions of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics and Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis. The meeting included representatives from the fields of epidemiology, genetics, pathology and molecular biology, health services research, and clinical oncology and the advocacy community, with a comprehensive review of the data. Presentations focused on highlighting differences and similarities between breast cancer in males and females. To enhance our understanding of male breast cancer, international consortia are necessary. Therefore, the Breast International Group and North American Breast Cancer Group have joined efforts to develop an International Male Breast Cancer Program and to pool epidemiologic data, clinical information, and tumor specimens. This international collaboration will also facilitate the future planning of clinical trials that can address essential questions in the treatment of male breast cancer.

Fig 1.

Comparison of age at diagnosis for male and female breast cancer: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry, 1973 to 2005. (A) Age-specific incidence rates. (B) Age distribution at diagnosis.

Fig 2.

(A) Overall and (B) relative survival for male and female breast cancer: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry, 1973 to 1998 (N = 2,537).