What Is Male Breast Cancer? (original) (raw)

How is male breast cancer treated?

Your treatment depends on the cancer type and stage. You’ll likely need a combination of treatments that follow a timeline that your provider will explain to you.

Surgery

Breast cancer surgery is the most common treatment for early-stage male breast cancer. Surgery to remove your entire breast (mastectomy) is more common than surgery to remove the lump only (lumpectomy).

A radical mastectomy removes all of your breast tissue. It removes the lymph nodes in your armpit and some chest muscle, too. But it’s more common to get a modified radical mastectomy. This procedure doesn’t remove muscle tissue or as many lymph nodes.

Radiation

Radiation for breast cancer uses X-rays or other energy sources to kill cancer cells. Radiation usually follows a lumpectomy to kill any remaining cancer cells. It’s possible for surgery to miss small tumor cells close to your chest wall or skin. But radiation can destroy what’s left, so tumors don’t grow back.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells throughout your body. For local tumors (those that haven’t spread), you may get chemo before surgery to shrink tumors. Or you may need radiation and chemo after surgery to reduce the chance that a tumor will grow back or come back somewhere else in the body. You won’t receive treatments at the same time, but rather one after the other.

Hormone therapy

Providers use hormone therapy to lower estrogen levels or block their effects. You’ll likely get this treatment if the cancer cells use hormones, like estrogen, to grow. Tamoxifen is a common medication used to treat male breast cancer. Other medicines that keep hormones from fueling cancer growth in males are aromatase inhibitors combined with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists.

Targeted therapy

Targeted therapy treatments interfere with processes that allow cancer cells to grow. Targeted treatments only work on specific types of cancer cells. For example, some treatments only work on breast cancers with hormone receptors. Others, like PARP inhibitors, work on cancer cells with BRCA gene mutations.

When should I see my healthcare provider?

See a provider if you have an unexplained lump in your chest that doesn’t go away within two weeks. Follow your healthcare provider’s advice about how often you need cancer screenings.