Male breast cancer - An analysis of four cases and review of the literature

We report the clinicopathological features and outcome of four cases of car cinoma of the mate breast diagnosed at the University Hospital of the West Indies between 1988 and 1998. Male breast cancer is most commonly seen in m en over age sixty years, and it exhibits the same prognosis, stage for stag e, as the disease in females. However, some researchers report overall poor er survival in men, and explain this on the basis of advanced disease at pr esentation. Other researchers maintain that the majority of breast cancers in males present at early stages, and exhibit survival similar to that in f emales. The published literature concerning this uncommon malignancy is rev iewed, and the data are compared with the features of our cases.