title: Clinicopathological Characteristics and Survival Analysis of 87 Male Breast Cancer Cases.
abstract: BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinicopathologic characteristics, therapy methods, and prognosis of male breast cancer.  PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathological characteristics, recurrence or metastasis, and survival information of 87 male breast cancer patients. Statistical analysis included the Kaplan-Meier method to analyze survivals, log-rank to compare curves between groups, and Cox regression for multivariate prognostic analysis. A p value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.  RESULTS: 5-year disease free survival (DFS) and 5-year overall survival (OS) were 66.3 and 77.0%, respectively. Monofactorial analysis showed tumor size, stage, lymph node involvement, and adjuvant chemotherapy to be prognostic factors with regard to 5-year DFS and 5-year OS. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed tumor size, stage, and adjuvant chemotherapy to be independent prognostic factors with regard to 5-year DFS and 5-year OS.  CONCLUSION: Male breast cancer has a lower incidence rate and poor prognosis. Invasive ductal carcinoma is the main pathologic type. Operation-based combined therapy is the standard care for these patients. Tumor size, stage, and adjuvant chemotherapy are independent prognostic factors. More emphasis should be placed on early diagnosis and early therapy, and adjuvant chemotherapy may improve survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Oncology, Key Laboratory of Breast Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital/Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhongsheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Lihong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang