The breast cancer can develop in women and in men as well, though rarely. According to Khachanush Hakobyan, the Director of Armenian-American Health center (Mammography Center), from 842 examined male patients in the center over 31 had a malignant tumor of the chest, over 457 - benign, called gynecomastia. For more information, we contacted the radiologist of Armenian-American Health Center Hovhannes Vardevanyan.

«Due to the low level of female sex hormones, the male mammary gland is underdeveloped. And if there «appears» a breast in men, he has to see the doctor. Nevertheless, he should not panic. Because in most cases the reason is in fat storage – lipomastia. But combination of fat storage and gynecomastia is also possible », - told Hovhannes Vardevanyan to the correspondent of NEWS.am Medicine.

If one in eight women can get breast cancer, the men developed the disease 10 times rarer.

But the treatment method is similar. If it is gynecomastia (benign change, i.e. the presence of glandular tissue in men), then the patient should be under the supervision of a physician, who is going to decide when the patient undergoes radiological examination or consults with specialists, such as oncologist, endocrinologist, mammologist, andrologist. And if the oncologist suspects cancer, he would decide what measures to take next.  The basic approach is a combination of local and systemic (general) treatments. In this case they use surgical (mastectomy) and radiotherapy methods as local ones, and chemotherapy and hormonal treatment as systemic therapies.

Cause of the breast cancer can be a trauma or exposure to carcinogens. Information about genetic inheritance from father to son is not discovered yet. To a large extent the risk of acquiring cancer is transmitted through the maternal line, including from mother and the nearest female relatives to son.

«As for gynecomastia, the disease may develop in childhood, but very rarely. In adolescence, during sexual development of the organism gynecomastia in men may transiently be observed, as female and male hormones rise in parallel. Unless there are no endocrine disorders in the body, the glandular tissue in men spontaneously disappears. In old age, when there is a disruption of the liver and denaturation of the hormones, female hormones are trapped in a male body and lead to gynecomastia. It is related to the health of internal sexual organs, too. The consequences of gynecomastia can be benign and malignant lesions of the prostate and testicles. On average, the occurrence of breast cancer in men is observed mostly after 60.

In males the malignant tumour most often develops and progresses in aggressive form. There are early metastases in axillary region and skeletal system. Usually the tumor is located under the nipple, areola, or close to them, leading to an asymmetry in the chest. Often there is bloody spotting from the nipple. In advanced cancer there can be ulceration of the skin.

In general, the results of treatment of breast cancer in men are worse than in women. Probably, this is because tumours in men tend to fast metastasis. And men do not undergo preventive examinations, as do the women. That is why their premalignant stage quickly develops into invasive cancer. Obvious is the fact that men seek help very late. As a rule, if they even feel something in the chest area, they are more inclined to think that it is a muscle.

Yana Avchiyan