Carcinoma of the male breast: a sexually transmitted disease?

Abstract

Male breast cancer is a rare disease. In an African population, the occurrence of this cancer is high. The male/female ratio in Tanzania is 1:14 (0.071). This narrow ratio does not differ significantly in the majority of sub-Saharan African countries. The overall ratio being 0.0143 (CI = 0.0317-0.877). When this was compared with the ratio of the African American population with breast cancer in USA, it was observed to be significantly high (p < 0.05). The narrow male/female ratio amongst indigenous people with breast cancer in sub-Saharan countries was seen only in those geographical areas where cervical malignancy ranked in the leading position. There is a clear association, with a pronounced linear correlation between these two cancers (r = 0.8). In view of this association it is hypothesised that since cervical cancer behaves as a sexually transmitted disease, then possibly this could also be the case in respect to the male breast carcinoma in sub-Saharan Africa. If these results are confirmed by other investigators, an opportunity to examine the factors contributing to the oncogenesis of this disease may be invaluable in developing prevention and treatment strategies.