Prognosis of Male Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Abstract

Objective: to discuss disease-free survival, overall survival, cancer specific survival, mortality and potential complications of the surgical treatment of breast cancer in men. Methods: a systematic review of studies identified in the databases PubMed and Lilacs, using the keywords "breast cancer in men" in combination with the terms "treatment" and "complications", published from 2006 to 2011. Results: the review included 20 studies sourced from all continents except Latin America and Oceania. The selected studies included 9,634 cases of male breast cancer diagnosed and treated between 1969 and 2009. Several authors have shown that men and women with breast cancer have similar clinical patterns, and that the treatment of male breast cancer persists as an extrapolation of female breast cancer. In primary studies, male survival rates 5 years after surgery ranged from 42% to 100% and, after 10 years, from 43% to 83%. In secondary studies, cancer specific survival at 5 years was 59% and at 10 years was 34%. There was no information regarding complications of surgical treatment. Conclusion: a wide variation in the rates of disease-free survival and overall survival was observed. Further studies should address this specific group, focusing mainly on its biological nature, therapeutic approaches and post-operative complications.