Male Breast Cancer: Two Case Studies and Review of the Literature

Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease, accounting for 1% of all breast cancers and 0.5% of all malignancies in men. While long considered stable, MBC incidence has increased 26% over the past 25 years. Despite this rise, MBC remains poorly recognized by the public and sometimes clinicians, risking delayed diagnosis and poor prognosis cases. This rarity also impacts treatment, as men have received little research attention and management largely relies on evidence from women. Currently, MBC has become a topic of interest to uncover similarities between males and females to better tailor therapeutic approaches. We present two cases - a 56-year-old man with a 2-year history of a 2cm retroareolar left breast mass, diagnosed as grade III invasive ductal carcinoma, and a 38-year-old man with a 4cm retroareolar left breast mass complicated by bloody nipple discharge, diagnosed as grade II invasive ductal carcinoma. Both underwent mastectomy and axillary dissection followed by adjuvant radiation and hormonal therapy. MBC diagnosis relies on triple assessment like female breast cancer. While rare, raising MBC awareness is crucial for timely diagnosis and management per evidence-based guidelines, warranting further research into this malignancy affecting men.