simultaneous bilateral male breast cancer: a case report and review of the literature

the male breast cancer (mbc) is a very rare neoplasm which accounts for 0.5-1% of the total cases of breast cancer. bilateral involvement is reported to occur in fewer than 2% of all the diagnosed cases of mbc, and synchronous tumors are very rare. because of its rarity, little is known about mbc etiology, its clinical findings and treatment. most patients present with a painless breast mass. the prognosis does not seem to be poor compared to that of the females, and it probably has a similar stage by stage prognosis. surgical treatment is the gold standard for mbc. the authors report a case of simultaneous bilateral male breast cancer. the aim of this case report was to contribute to the available literature by this unusual presentation of the disease. key words: breast cancer; male; bilateral; chemotherapy; radiotherapy references 1. lewison ep. spontaneous regression of breast cancer. nati cancer inst monogr. 1976 nov; 44: 23-6. 2. ravandi – keshani f, hayes tg. male breast cancer: a review of the literature. eur j cancer. 1998 aug, 34(9): 1341-7. 3. ozet a, yavuz aa, komurcu s, ozturk b, safali m, arpaci f, et al. bilateral male breast cancer and prostate cancer: a case report. jpn j clin oncol. 2000 apr; 30(4): 188-90. 4. kahla pb, cassaro s, vlandimir fg, wayne mg, cammrata a. bilateral synchronous breast cancer in a male. mt sinai j med. 2005 mar; 72(2): 120-3. 5. dos santos vm, cintra osterne em, de castro ra, marques hv jr. asian pac j cancer. bilateral male breast cancer. too many concerns? 2007 oct; 8(4): 640-1. 6. bauerschmitz gj, karan d, zwiefel k, bender hg, mohrwann s. an unusual case of advanced bilateral male breast cancer. oncology 2008 oct; 31(10): 542-4. 7. hirose y, sasa m, bando y, hirose t, morimoto t, kurokawa y, et al. bilateral male breast cancer, with male potential hypogonadism. world surg oncol. 2007 jun 2; 5: 60. 8. sasco aj, lowenfels ab, pasker – de jong p. review article: epidemiology of male breast cancer. a meta – analysis of published case – control studies and discussion of selected aetiological factors. int j cancer. 1993 feb 20; 53(4):538-49. 9. amir h, makwaya ck, moshiro c, kwesigabo g. carcinoma of the male breast a sexually tranmitted disease? east afr med j. 1996 jun, 73(3): 187-90. 10.  ries l g, pollack es, young jl jr. cancer patient survival: surveillance, epidemiology, and end results program, 1973 – 79. j nati cancer inst 1985 apr; 70(4): 693 – 707. 11.  loman n, johannsson o, kristoffersson u, olsson h, borg a. family history of breast cancer and ovarian cancers and brca1 and brca2 mutation in a population based series of early- onset breast cancer. j nati cancer inst 2001 aug; 93(16): 1215-23. 12.  gunhan – bilgen l, bozkaya h, ustun ee, memis a. male breast disease: clinical, mammographic and ultrasonographic features. eur j- radiol. 2002 sep; 43(3): 246-55. 13.  spencer jj, shutter j. synchronous bilateral invasive lobular breast cancer presenting as carcimatosis in a male. am j surg pathol. 2009 mar; 33(3): 470-4. 14.  mathew j, perkins gh, stephens t, middleton lp, yang wt. primary breast cancer in men: clinical, imaging and pathologic findings in 57 patients. ajr am j roentgenol, 2008 dec; 19(6): 1631-9. 15.  appelbaum ah, evans gf, levy kr, amirkhan rh, schumpert td. mammographic appearances of male breast disease. radiographic. 1999 may - jun; 19(3): 559-68. 16.  borgen pi, seine rt, mckinnon wm, rosen pp. carcinoma of the male breast: analysis of prognosis compared with matched female patients. ann surg oncol. 1997 jul; 4(5): 385-8. 17.  cutuli b. strategies in treating male breast cancer. expert opines pharmacother. 2007 feb; 8(2): 193-202.