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. 2017 Jul;11(4):1190-1199.
doi: 10.1177/1557988316669044. Epub 2016 Sep 29.

Impact of Marital Status on Tumor Stage at Diagnosis and on Survival in Male Breast Cancer

Orimisan Samuel Adekolujo  1   2 , Shourya Tadisina  1   2 , Ujwala Koduru  1   2 , Jill Gernand  1 , Susan Jane Smith  1   2 , Radhika Ramani Kakarala  1   2
Affiliations

Impact of Marital Status on Tumor Stage at Diagnosis and on Survival in Male Breast Cancer

Orimisan Samuel Adekolujo et al. Am J Mens Health. 2017 Jul.

Abstract

The effect of marital status (MS) on survival varies according to cancer type and gender. There has been no report on the impact of MS on survival in male breast cancer (MBC). This study aims to determine the influence of MS on tumor stage at diagnosis and survival in MBC. Men with MBC ≥18 years of age in the SEER database from 1990 to 2011 were included in the study. MS was classified as married and unmarried (including single, divorced, separated, widowed). Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the 5-year cancer-specific survival. Multivariate regression analyses were done to determine the effect of MS on presence of Stage IV disease at diagnosis and on cancer-specific mortality. The study included 3,761 men; 2,647 (70.4%) were married. Unmarried men were more often diagnosed with Stage IV MBC compared with married (10.7% vs. 5.5%, p < .001). Unmarried men (compared with married) were significantly less likely to undergo surgery (92.4% vs. 96.7%, p < .001). Overall unmarried males with Stages II, III, and IV MBC have significantly worse 5-year cancer-specific survival compared with married. On multivariate analysis, being unmarried was associated with increased hazard of death (HR = 1.43, p < .001) and increased likelihood of Stage IV disease at diagnosis ( OR = 1.96, p < .001). Unmarried males with breast cancer are at greater risk for Stage IV disease at diagnosis and poorer outcomes compared with married males.

Keywords: male breast cancer; marital status; survival.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Kaplan–Meier curves of the effect of marital status on cancer-specific survival for all stages.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Kaplan–Meier curves of the effect of marital status on cancer-specific survival by stage.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Kaplan-Meier curves of the effect of marital status on overall survival by stage.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Kaplan–Meier curves of the effect of marital status on cancer-specific survival by decade.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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