How is breast cancer diagnosed and treated in men?
The same techniques — physical exams, mammograms, and biopsies (examining small samples of the tissue under a microscope) — that are used to diagnose breast cancer in women are also used in men. The same four treatments that are used in treating breast cancer in women — surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and hormones — are also used to treat the disease in men. Mastectomy is the recommended surgery in men. Many breast cancers in men have hormone receptors, that is, they have specific sites on the cancer cells where specific hormones like estrogen can act. Therefore, hormonal treatment in men is likely to be effective. © Copyright 1995-2009 The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. All rights reserved Can’t find the health information you’re looking for? Ask a Health Educator, Live! Know someone who could use this information?….send them this link. This information is provided by the Cleveland Clinic and is not intended to replace the medical advice of your doctor or health care provider. P
The same techniques — physical exams, mammograms, and biopsies (examining small samples of the tissue under a microscope) — that are used to diagnose breast cancer in women are also used in men. The same four treatments that are used in treating breast cancer in women — surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and hormones — are also used to treat the disease in men. The one major difference is that men with breast cancer respond much better to hormone treatments than women do. As discussed in the section on breast cancer in women, many breast cancers have hormone receptors, that is, they have specific sites on the cancer cells where specific hormones like estrogen can act. Men are much more likely to have these receptors than women, making hormonal treatment more likely to be effective.
