Case Report: Male Breast Cancer

Michael Dixon, one of the Program Directors of the 33rd Miami Breast Cancer Conference, presented a real case of male breast cancer, highlighting some of the issues surrounding its management and this is discussed here in this article. A 43-year-old man presented in 2002 with a painless breast lump. He had a strong family history, with his mother being diagnosed at age 50 and maternal aunt in her 40s. On examination, there was an 18mm lump just above the left nipple with numerous palpable small firm axillary lymph nodes. As part of the triple assessment, mammography and ultrasound of the breast and axilla was performed, which showed a 20mm suspicious mass in the breast and 4 abnormal nodes. Core biopsy revealed grade 2 invasive cancer of no special type, ER 8/8 (100% cells staining positively), HER2 negative. FNA of the axilla confirmed malignant cells.