Men

Breast cancer occurs mainly in women, but men can get it, too. Many people do not realize that men have breast tissue and that they can develop breast cancer.

What is your risk?

The lifetime risk of breast cancer for a cisgender man.

Approximately 1 in 833 men will develop breast cancer.

Information as of 2022, courtesy of American Cancer Society

What is your screening recommendation?

Image-based breast cancer screening is not routinely recommended in asymptomatic average-risk men.

Due to low prevalence and limited data to support male breast cancer screening, there are currently no recommendations for image-based screening in asymptomatic men and few recommendations for men at high risk for breast cancer. If you identify high risk factors for breast cancer, you should speak with your physician to determine if screening is right for you [1].

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (2.2022) recommends men who have a BRCA pathogenic variant or likely pathogenic variant undergo the following screening:

  • Begin breast self-exam training and education starting at age 35 years old.
  • Clinical breast exam, every 12 months, starting at age 35 years old.
  • Consider annual mammogram screening in men with gynecomastia starting at age 50 or 10 years before the earliest known male breast cancer in the family (whichever comes first) [2].

 

Read about self breast examination

Men with Klinefelter syndrome are more likely to get breast cancer than other men. Having this condition can increase the risk anywhere between 20 – 60 times the risk of a man in the general population [3]. However, limited data exists for screening recommendations in this group. It is recommended you speak with your doctor about your personal risk factors and whether you may qualify for screening.

  1. Woods RW, Salkowski LR, Elezaby M, Burnside ES, Strigel RM, Fowler AM. Image-based screening for men at high risk for breast cancer: Benefits and drawbacks. Clin Imaging. 2020 Mar;60(1):84-89. doi: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2019.11.005. Epub 2019 Nov 28. PMID: 31864206; PMCID: PMC7242122. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31864206/ 
  2. National Comprehensive Cancer Network. (2022). BRCA-Pathogenic/Likely Pathogenic Variant – Positive Management (version 2.2022). Retrieved from https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/pdf/genetics_bop.pdf
  3. Gao Y, Heller SL, Moy L. Male Breast Cancer in the Age of Genetic Testing: An Opportunity for Early Detection, Tailored Therapy, and Surveillance. Radiographics. 2018 Sep-Oct;38(5):1289-1311. doi: 10.1148/rg.2018180013. Epub 2018 Aug 3. PMID: 30074858; PMCID: PMC7391126. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7391126/

Information as of Februrary 2022, courtesy of National Comprehensive Cancer Network[2]

Male Breast Cancer.

There are multiple risk factors for development of breast cancer and we want you to be aware of the factors that may increase your risk.

Information as of April 2018, courtesy of American Cancer Society

Resources.

These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only.

Empower yourself and find your risk of breast cancer.

Use your smartphone or our website to calculate your personalized risk of breast cancer and find out if you may qualify for earlier breast cancer screening.

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