A REVIEW OF THE MANAGEMENT OF THE MALE BREAST-CARCINOMA BASED ON AN ANALYSIS OF 420 TREATED CASES

Between 1941 and 1991, a total of 420 cases, diagnosed as having male breast carcinoma (MBC), were registered at The Christie Hospital, Manc hester, UK. The presentation and results of treatment, together with a review of the world literature, form the basis of suggestions for the management of MBC. Primary treatment most commonly involves a simple mastectomy followed by radiotherapy. Between 80% and 100% of tumours a re hormone-receptor positive. Tamoxifen is recommended as the drug of choice for advanced/recurrent disease. Chemotherapy, using the CMF reg imen produced a 36% complete or partial response in 22 treated patient s. Early results in 39 node-positive patients given adjuvant tamoxifen following primary treatment, suggest significant improvement in actua rial and disease-free survival compared to 'historical' controls.