Breast cancer in men is rare and is usually discovered late

About 700 cases per year of breast cancer in men - rare and often detected late As of: October 23, 2026 • 7:26 a.m

Breast cancer in men is a rare disease. This is why a tumor is often only diagnosed in an advanced stage - which means valuable treatment time is lost.

Around 700 cases of breast cancer in men are registered in Germany every year. In women, however, there are more than 75,000 new cases per year - it is the most common type of cancer in women.

It is often not known that men can also get breast cancer. Unlike women, men are not required to undergo regular check-ups. The disease is just as dangerous in men.

To date, health insurance companies only cover mammography screening for women from the age of 50. more

Breast cancer in men can arise either in the ducts or in the lobules of the breast. The reason why few men get this disease is because men have less of this tissue, which could give rise to cancer.

Until puberty, the breasts of boys and girls are practically identical. "And then comes the hormonal surge with puberty. For boys it's testosterone, for girls it's estrogen. This makes the breasts grow - testosterone inhibits this development," explains oncologist Prof. Marion Kiechle, from the Rechts der Isar Clinic at the Technical University of Munich. So boys only have a few milk ducts and glandular lobules.

Even if breast cancer is less common in men, there are risk factors that promote the occurrence of cancer: "Smoking, an unhealthy diet, little exercise or too much estrogen are among them," says oncologist Kiechle. Causes of increased estrogen levels can be: being very overweight, high alcohol consumption, liver disease or taking performance-enhancing hormones.

Increased radiation exposure, for example after previous radiation treatment in the chest area, can also increase the risk of breast cancer.

Men who suffer from the so-called Klinefelter syndrome are significantly more likely to develop breast cancer. This disease is a gene mutation in which those affected have one or more additional X chromosomes.

Men who carry a hereditary change, a mutation, in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes also have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

“If a man shows symptoms that could indicate breast cancer, and female relatives are more likely to have breast or ovarian cancer at a young age, this is a typical sign of a hereditary form of cancer,” emphasizes the oncologist. Then these men should be tested for a breast cancer mutation.

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The symptoms essentially correspond to those of women: they include palpable lumps or hardenings in the breast tissue or behind the nipple, as well as fluid secretions from the nipples. Other symptoms include: Inflammatory changes that do not heal, enlarged lymph nodes in the armpits or an inwardly pulled nipple.

If you have these symptoms, you should consult your family doctor or a breast center directly.

It usually takes longer for the disease to be discovered in men. Affected men often only come to a specialized breast center or the right doctor via a detour.

However, men often allow a lot of time to pass before they seek medical advice due to ignorance about the disease. The diagnosis is similar to that for women: an examination of the breast using ultrasound or mammography.

To detect breast cancer, a biopsy is performed and tissue samples are taken. The examination provides information about whether changes are benign or malignant.

Women who go for screening reduce their risk of dying from breast cancer by 20 to 30 percent. more

Further examinations such as ultrasound and computer tomography are used to determine whether the tumor has already spread to other organs. Five years after diagnosis, women statistically have an 88 percent chance of survival, according to the RKI. Men, on the other hand, only 81 percent.

If the cancer is diagnosed, the treatment is essentially the same as for women. The focus is on the surgical removal of the affected tissue and neighboring lymph nodes in the armpit.

Because men have far less breast tissue than women, the entire breast often has to be removed. There is then no longer a nipple on the affected side of the upper body, but there is a scar. Sometimes this part of the operated breast can also appear sunken.

In addition, depending on the size of the tumor, additional radiation, chemotherapy or antibody therapy may be given to eliminate any cancer cells remaining in the body. Since breast cancer cells in men usually grow in a hormone-dependent manner, anti-hormonal therapy is recommended in most cases.

This topic in the program: NDR Info | Culture/Science | Oct 20, 2026 | 9:53 a.m