Male breast cancer: clinical features and multimodal treatment in a retrospective survey analysis at Italian centers

Aims and background. We report a collection of data about early breast cancer in male patients from 13 Italian institutions. Methods and study design. We obtained data from patient charts and performed statistical analysis. The primary end points were overall survival and disease-free survival. Results. A total of 205 men with invasive breast cancer was identified, with a median age of 66 years. Pathological characteristics were heterogeneous for T stage, N stage and HER2 status. Histological subtype was predominantly ductal infiltrating carcinoma. Most of them were hormone receptor positive. Mastectomy was the most common strategy. Postsurgical treatment was not standardized. Patients with large tumors were more likely to be treated with chemotherapy. Disease recurrence was associated with an ER+ and PR+ status. Conclusions. We identified a correlation between relapse and hormone receptor expression, as is the case in female breast cancer.