We all have breasts! Raising awareness of breast cancer in men

17 January 2023

More often than not, breast cancer is associated with women. Yet, men can - and do - get breast cancer too.

Breast cancers are some of the most treatable, with treatments being equally effective for men and women. However, breast cancer in men is often diagnosed later due to a lack of routine screening. And with men more likely to ignore a lump, they may not realize it could be cancer, further delaying diagnosis. As a result, male breast cancer has a higher mortality rate compared to breast cancers in women.

Greater awareness of male breast cancer could make a real impact and see more men recover from this disease. To help, here we take a look at:

The signs and symptoms of breast cancer in men
How to effectively check for lumps
Risk factors
The diagnosis and treatment of male breast cancer
What scientists are doing to help improve survival rates.

Share this blog to help get more people talking about male breast cancer. Together, we can raise awareness.

Know your breasts: The signs and symptoms of male breast cancer

Everyone is different so the symptoms of breast cancer you experience may vary. Equally, you might not have any symptoms at all. With that said, the most common signs of male breast cancer are the same as those in women:

A hard, immovable lump or multiple lumps around your nipple or under the armpit
Liquid oozing from one or both nipples (also known as discharge)
A change in the look and feel of the skin, such as dimpling
A sore or rash around the nipple that doesn’t go away
One or both of your nipples turning in

Other diseases can also cause these symptoms so don’t panic if you experience one or more of them! But do call your doctor to set up an appointment.

How to check for lumps

If you’re wondering how to check your chest for suspicious lumps, you’re not alone.

The first thing about checking for lumps is to get to know what your own chest usually feels like. This way, you’ll be able to spot any changes quickly and report them to your doctor.

Although there’s not really a right or wrong way to check your chest for breast cancer, here are our top tips:

Step 1: Look at your chest in the mirror

Keep your arms by your side and shoulders straight. Look for any changes in the shape of the area around your nipples, dimpling or bulging of the skin or a rash or reddening. Next, raise your arms in the air and look for the same changes. If you see any, speak to your doctor.

And if you do notice a discharge (this could be water, milky or yellow) from one or both of your nipples, be sure to book an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible.

Step 2: Feeling for lumps

You might find it easiest to check your chest when your skin is wet, so incorporating lump checks into your shower routine could work for you.

Use your right hand to feel the left side of your chest. Use a firm, smooth touch with your first few fingers, keeping them flat and together. Use a small circular motion and be sure to check the entire area, from your collarbone to the top of your abdomen and side to side, including under your armpit. When you’ve thoroughly checked your left side, do the same to your right.

Your chest may contain what feels like many bumps. When checking for cancer, you want to search for small, painless, hard, defined lumps that don’t move. If you find such a lump, or feel any changes, call your doctor to set up an appointment.

Risk factors

There are no set rules regarding who gets male breast cancer, but there are some risk factors that could make you more likely to develop the condition. Even if you fit into one or more of these categories, please remember that male breast cancer is very rare. However, please do speak to your doctor if you are particularly worried about developing the disease.

Family history of breast cancer – if you have a close, biological family member (male or female) with breast cancer, you may have a higher chance of developing the disease.
Age – male breast cancer is most often diagnosed in men over 60.
Liver disease – some conditions such as cirrhosis can affect your hormones and increase the risk of developing breast cancer.
Obesity – higher levels of estrogen in the body as a result of obesity can increase the risk of male breast cancer.
Klinefelter’s syndrome – this genetic condition causes boys and men to produce lower levels of male hormones, and higher levels of female hormones, which can increase the chance of developing breast cancer.

Diagnosing and treating male breast cancer

When you go to see your doctor, it’s always helpful to be prepared. There are three main categories of tests your doctor may perform or recommend; these are:

Clinical chest/breast exam – The doctor uses their hands to examine your chest for suspicious lumps. As they are assessing the breast tissue, this is often still referred to as a breast exam.
Imaging tests – Tests such as ultrasounds, X-rays and CT scans may be used to take a picture of your breast tissue to allow the doctor to identify any abnormal areas.
Biopsy – A biopsy is where some of the breast tissue is removed and sent for testing. There are different ways of taking a biopsy, but the most common involves a needle device being guided to the suspicious area and used to remove some of the cells. This method is much less invasive than surgery and often only requires local anesthetic. The sample is then analyzed by expert scientists in a laboratory.

Once your doctor has determined the type of cancer, how advanced it is and your overall health, they will assess your treatment options. There are some very effective treatment options available for male breast cancers now. They include:

Surgery to remove the tumor and surrounding tissue.
Radiation therapy where high-energy beams are used to kill the cancer cells (this is sometimes used after surgery to eliminate any remaining cancer cells).
Hormone therapy for hormone-sensitive cancers; you may be given a medication called tamoxifen.
Chemotherapy medications which kill cancer cells. These medicines can be used on their own or after surgery to eliminate any remaining cancer cells.

Clinical trials: The future of male breast cancer diagnosis and treatment

Although there are effective treatments for many early-stage breast cancers, there’s still more to be done. Scientists are working hard to find better ways to detect and treat male breast cancer – particularly those that are more advanced.

Clinical trials are a crucial part of these efforts as they enable scientists to better understand the disease and test the effectiveness of new therapeutics and diagnostic tests. Today there are thousands of clinical trials studying male breast cancer. You can find information about some of these trials at ClinicalTrials.gov.

Some of these trials are assessing whether medicines can prevent male breast cancer from coming back (recurrence) while others are investigating whether a combination therapy (more than one drug working together) could treat aggressive male breast cancers. Meanwhile, there are also trials that are focused on determining who is more at risk of developing male breast cancer by exploring genetic mutations within families where one person or more has suffered from the disease.

Increasingly, participation in clinical trials is also being recognized as a treatment option, particularly once the standard treatment pathways have been tried. This is because participating in a trial provides the opportunity to try the latest developmental therapeutics.

However, clinical trials are only possible if volunteers sign up to take part. Joining a trial means that you could:

Find out if your genetic profile makes you more at risk of developing cancer.
Receive close monitoring of your cancer.
Receive an investigational treatment not available elsewhere.
Receive investigational medicines that could stop your cancer from coming back.
Help shape the future of new treatments and tests that could improve health outcomes for you and other patients like you.

There are lots of myths around taking part in clinical trials. If you’re interested in joining a clinical trial, ask your doctor what ongoing trials are available to you.

We can only raise awareness of male breast cancer together, so please share this blog with your friends and family, and talk to your male friends and family members. A lack of awareness is the main reason behind much of the missed and/or late diagnosis of male breast cancers, so get creative – find a way of asking your friends if they’ve checked their breasts recently!