Breast cancer is not just a female pathology: it can be diagnosed in males of any age, with the highest incidence between the ages of 60 and 70. The number of new cases has been steadily increasing in recent decades. It represents approximately 1% of all breast cancer cases.
It can present as a painless lump in the breast, which can change shape and/or size, red or scaly skin dimple or similar to orange peel, inverted nipple that secretes blood fluid, scaly areola, swollen axillary lymph nodes.
The risk factors are represented by radiotherapy to the chest, diseases characterized by high levels of estrogen (liver cirrhosis, Klinefelter syndrome, obesity, alcoholism), female family history of breast cancer, genetic mutations (BRCA2, gene belonging to the family of genes Angelina Jolie”).
Survival depends on the stage of the cancer at diagnosis (size of the tumor, involvement of the lymph nodes, metastasis), the levels of estrogen and progesterone receptors in the tumor tissue, age of the patient, presence of tumor in the other breast. The diagnosis is based on tests also conducted in the female gender: medical history (for example family history), physical examination (inspection and palpation), mammography, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, biopsy.
Therapy is represented by surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and endocrine therapy.
