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Secretory carcinoma of the male breast

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Abstract

Background

Secretory carcinoma is a distinctive and rare variant of breast carcinoma with a favorable prognosis because these tumors usually behave in an indolent manner. The occurrence of this type of breast cancer in males was studied.

Methods

An extensive literature survey concerning secretory breast cancer in males was performed. Data of one case treated in our institute were added.

Results

A total of 14 cases were identified, and our case was added to this series. The median age was 17 years. The duration of symptoms varied from 1 month to 21 years, and the tumor size was 1.2 to 4 cm. Surgical treatment varied from local excision only to modified radical mastectomy. Three patients received adjuvant treatment. Lymph nodes were involved in 3 of the 10 cases undergoing axillary lymph node dissection. The primary tumor was only 1.5 cm in diameter in two of those cases. None of the patients presented with systemic metastases. Only one male was reported to develop recurrence and consequently died of systemic disease.

Conclusions

Secretory breast cancer is very rare in males and seems to occur at a younger age in males than in females. A sufficient number of female cases have been reported with recurrence after local excision. Although in females lymph node metastases are rarely observed in secretory breast carcinoma smaller than 2 cm, in male patients nodal metastases might occur more frequently in smaller tumors. Therefore, mastectomy with sentinel lymph node biopsy or axillary lymph node dissection is recommended in any male case. Biological behavior seems to be similarly favorable in either sex.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical Oncology, University Hospital, Medical School of Crete, PO Box 1352, 711 10, Herakleion, Greence

    Eelco de Bree MD, John Askoxylakis MD, Elias Sanidas MD & Dimitris D. Tsiftsis PhD

  2. Department of Pathology, University Hospital, Medical School of Crete, PO Box 1352, 711 10, Herakleion, Greence

    Elpida Giannikaki MD

  3. Department of Pathology, Venizeleio Hospital, Herakleion, Greece

    Nikos Chroniaris MD

Authors
  1. Eelco de Bree MD
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  2. John Askoxylakis MD
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  3. Elpida Giannikaki MD
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  4. Nikos Chroniaris MD
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  5. Elias Sanidas MD
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  6. Dimitris D. Tsiftsis PhD
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Correspondence to Eelco de Bree MD.

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de Bree, E., Askoxylakis, J., Giannikaki, E. et al. Secretory carcinoma of the male breast. Annals of Surgical Oncology 9, 663–667 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02574482

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02574482

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