Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2021 Jun 2;11(1):11639.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-91131-4.

Comparison between male and female breast cancer survival using propensity score matching analysis

Serena Scomersi  1 , Fabiola Giudici  2   3 , Giuseppe Cacciatore  3 , Pasquale Losurdo  3 , Stefano Fracon  3 , Sara Cortinovis  3 , Rita Ceccherini  4 , Fabrizio Zanconati  4   2   3 , Maura Tonutti  4 , Marina Bortul  4   2   3
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparison between male and female breast cancer survival using propensity score matching analysis

Serena Scomersi et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease. The few studies on MBC reported conflicting data regarding survival outcomes compared to women. This study has two objectives: to describe the characteristics of a single-cohort of MBC and to compare overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) between men and women using the propensity score matching (PSM) analysis. We considered MBC patients (n = 40) diagnosed between January 2004 and May 2019. Clinical, pathological, oncological and follow-up data were analyzed. Univariate analysis was performed to determine the prognostic factors on OS and DFS for MBC. We selected female patients with BC (n = 2678). To minimize the effect of the imbalance of the prognostic factors between the two cohorts, the PSM method (1:3 ratio) was applied and differences in survival between the two groups were assessed. The average age of MBC patients was 73 years. The 5-year OS and DFS rates were 76.7% and 72.2% respectively. The prognostic factors that significantly influenced OS and DFS were tumor size and lymph node status. After the PSM, 5 year-OS was similar between MBC and FBC (72.9% vs 72.3%, p = 0.70) while we found a worse DFS for MBC (72.2% vs 91.4%, p = 0.03). Our data confirmed previous reported MBC characteristics: we found a higher risk of recurrence in MBC compared to FMC but similar OS. MBC and FMC are different entities and studies are needed to understand its epidemiology and guide its management.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow-chart of inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) OS before PSM. (b) DFS before PSM.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of propensity score before and after propensity score analysis. (A, C) Show the distribution of the propensity score for patients with MBC and FBC before the matching procedure, respectively. (B, D) Demonstrate the distribution of the propensity score after full propensity score matching.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) OS after PSM. (b) DFS after PSM.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Goss PE, et al. Male breast carcinoma: A review of 229 patients who presented to the Princess Margaret Hospital during 40 years:1955–1996. Cancer. 1999;85:629–639. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0142(19990201)85:3<629::AID-CNCR13>3.0.CO;2-V. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jemal A, et al. Cancer statistics, 2004. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2004;54:8–29. doi: 10.3322/canjclin.54.1.8. - DOI - PubMed
    1. National Cancer Institute. SEER Cancer Statistics Review (CSR), 1975–2015. https://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2015/. Accessed 31 Jan 2019.
    1. Giordano SH. Breast cancer in men. N. Engl. J. Med. 2018;378(24):2311–2320. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1707939. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Siegel RL, et al. Cancer statistics, 2018. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2018;68:7–30. doi: 10.3322/caac.21442. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms