ABSTRACT
Objective Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease,with clinical and prognostic features still controversial.The aim of this study was to discuss the clinical characteristics and prognosis of MBC.Methods Clinical data related to 71 MBC patients was reviewed.Results The radio of MBC to female breast cancer (FBC) was 42:10 000.Age related to the diagnosis of MBC ranged from 43 to 84 years with the median age as 62 years old,older than the FBC patients (t=6.355,P=0.000).The percentage of invasive ducal carcinoma in MBC patients was much higher than in FBC patients (x2=29.875,P=0.000).The positive rate of estrogen receptor (ER) was significantly higher than those in FBC patients and the positive rates of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) were less frequently (x2=3.741,P=0.048 and x2=12.845,P=0.002)seen.Data from the univariate and multivariate analysis showed that the 3-,5-and 10-year survivalrates of MBC were 82.6％,74.0％ and 47.4％ respectively,significantly higher than those in FBCpatients (P=0.004,P=0.046).Patients with positive HER-2 showed worse prognosis than HER-2 negative patients in MBC patients (x2=4.219,P=0.040).Conclusion There were significant clinic-pathologic and prognostic differences between FBC and MBC patients.The HER-2 positivity seemed to be an important factor for the prognosis and treatment of patients with MBC.