Dr. Dixon on Prevalence and Risk Factors of Male Breast Cancer

J. Michael Dixon, MD, professor of Surgery, consultant surgeon, and clinical director of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, discusses the prevalence of and risk factors for breast cancer in males.

For every 100 to 200 female patients with breast cancer, there is 1 male diagnosed with the same disease, Dixon explains. Male breast cancer tends to present in older patients, and they often have estrogen-receptor—positive disease.

Risk factors for male breast cancer include family history, especially if the BRCA2 gene is present, he adds. Frequently, a male patient's initial visit to an oncologist will be due to breast enlargement.