Male Breast Cancer: Identification, Treatment and Management

Treatment guidelines are almost the same in male and female breast cancer patients.

If it is locally advanced tumour. Then chemotherapy is first given to reduce the extent of cancer and then surgery is advised. Chemotherapy may be adjuvant chemotherapy that is when it is given after surgery or it may be called neo adjuvant chemotherapy when it is given before surgery.

After chemotherapy one may receive hormonal therapy, perception therapy depending on which receptors, described above, are positive. Radiation therapy is given to all patients who have undergone breast conservation surgery but only to selected patients who have undergone total mastectomy like one having large tumour or having lymph nodes showing cancer spread.

For patients who have metastatic breast cancer surgery may not be indicated until or unless it is large lump with local inflammation or fumigation causing difficulty to deal with.in these case treatment is with the intent of prolonging the life and not complete cure. These patients may be treated only by chemotherapy, hormonal therapy or targeted therapy and if there metastasize to the bones they may have to undergo radiation to the affected bones which will not only relieve bone pain but also prevent them from fractures.

The side effects of chemotherapy can be hair loss, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting and low blood count therapy increasing some chances of infection but all these side effects can be minimized by giving additional medications.

These are short term side effects and go away after completing the treatment.

Some patients may need to take hormonal therapy in the form of tablets for as long as ten years in order to prevent a recurrence. Herceptin therapy is indicated in CERB2 positive cancers and is expensive but it is important to take that treatment and good thing is that it is becoming cheaper with time.

The most important thing to remember is that if there are any features as described above, men should consult their doctor and just not neglect it think that breast cancer is only in females.

Also, treatment of breast cancer is not Surgery only and in most cases, a combination of treatment is needed as all modalities of treatment are important in order to achieve long term cure.

There is nothing to fear if we diagnose breast cancer early and get it treated as early as possible. The best policy is to try not to have cancer and there are various preventive measures which one can take some of them are no smoking, avoid alcohol, diet with more fruits and vegetable rather than high-fat diet, regular yoga and exercise. Regular self-examination is very important for diagnosing breast cancer.