Long-term survival following cancer of the male breast in Northern Ireland. A report of 81 cases

Abstract

Eighty-one patients with cancer of the male breast were studied. The majority (79) presented with a mass in the breast and in 8 patients the tumor was found by chance. Two patients presented with serosanguinous discharge. Average duration of symptoms was 11.9 months. Thirty patients had Stage I, 25 had Stage II, 16 had Stage III, and 8 had Stage IV disease. Fifty-three patients had simple mastectomy, nine had lumpectomy, six had radical mastectomy, and five had biopsy only. Eight had no local surgery. Overall 5- and 10-year survival allowing for all causes of death was 38% and 17%, respectively. Cox's (1972) proportional hazard regression model was used to assess the contribution of various factors to survival. Age at presentation, postoperative hormone therapy, postoperative radiotherapy, site of the primary tumor within the breast, and type of local surgery did not contribute to survival. Only the stage of disease contributed to survival and did so in the expected direction.