Identifying Breast Cancer in Men

Guest: Kathryn J. Ruddy, M.D. (@KathrynRuddyMD)

Host: Darryl S. Chutka, M.D. (@ChutkaMD)

Breast cancer in men is very uncommon, about 1/100th as common as in women. It’s expected that this year, just under 3000 men are likely to be diagnosed with it, and just over 500 men will die from breast cancer. Because it’s so uncommon, there are very few good studies which have been completed to educate us about this disease. Kathryn Ruddy, M.D., an oncologist at Mayo Clinic’s Rochester campus joins us to discuss breast cancer in men and what we should do as primary care clinicians to care for our male patients who may be at increased risk to develop it. We’ll cover how breast cancer in males differs from that in females, its risk factors, how it’s diagnosed, and the survival rates of men with a diagnosis of breast cancer.

Specific topics:

• Prevalence of breast cancer
• How most breast cancers in men are found
• The recommended evaluation of a male patient with suspected breast cancer
• Risk factors for breast cancer in men
• Treatment for male breast cancer
• Survival rates for breast cancer in men

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