Most people think breast cancer is a woman’s disease. However, men can get breast cancer too. Breast cancer is much less common in men than it is in women. Older men are most likely to develop breast cancer. However, men of any age can get the disease. If a man is diagnosed with breast cancer early, the likelihood of being cured from it is high. Unfortunately, because many men avoid going to a doctor for minimal symptoms, many breast cancers among men are not diagnosed until the cancer is in a more advanced stage.

The rate at which men with breast cancer are opting for double mastectomies, a new study has found. Between 2004 and 2011, the rates of men opting for double mastectomies doubled with a 5.6% of men with the disease undergoing the operation in 2011 compared with 3% in 2004. 

A contralateral prophylactic mastectomy is an operation to remove a healthy, unaffected breast after a diagnosis of invasive cancer in the other breast. But this type of mastectomy isn't always necessary, as researchers warned in the study published in JAMA Surgery. 

This operation is recommended for a small number of men and the rates observed in the new study are higher than this proportion. But there is lack of evidence that such mastectomies help patients live longer. Researchers evaluated data from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries on 6,332 men who had breast cancer in one breast. All of the men underwent surgery between 2004 and 2011. 

Over the study period, 1,254 underwent this preventative surgery and 4,800 men underwent a single breast mastectomy and 278 men underwent a contralateral prophylactic mastectomy. Scientists weren't as shocked because this observation has already been found in women. The rates among them has been similar, increasing in the past two decades, rising from the 2.8% of women with cancer in one breast in 1998 to 11% in 2011. 

Increased genetic testing and the use of MRI during diagnosis may contribute to the increase in women’s rates of these operations, the researchers said. The exact cause of the increase in men is unknown, but the researchers think the reasons may be similar to those in women.

For both men and women with BRCA mutations, the procedure is recommended, he said. However, only a small proportion of people who are diagnosed with breast cancer have these mutations, he noted.

Key statistics for male breast cancer:

·         It is estimated that for 2015 in the United States, there will be about 2,350 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed in men, and about 440 men will die from breast cancer.

·         Breast cancer is about 100 times less common among men than among women.

·         The lifetime risk of a man getting breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000.

·         Less than 1 percent of all breast cancers develop in males.

·         The average age at diagnosis is between 60 and 70 years, though men of all ages can be affected with the disease.

Signs and symptoms of male breast cancer may include a painless lump or thickening in the breast tissue, changes to the skin covering the breast, such as dimpling, puckering, redness or scaling, changes to the nipple, such as redness or scaling, or a nipple that begins to turn inward, or discharge from the nipple.

Risk factors for male breast cancer:

·         Age. The risk for male breast cancer increases with age. The average age of diagnosis for male breast cancer is about 68 years old.

·         Family history. Men have a higher risk of breast cancer if they have a family member who has had breast cancer. About 1 in 5 men with breast cancer have a male or female relative with the disease.

·         Being overweight or obese. Fat cells convert androgens into estrogen. A higher number of fat cells in your body may result in increased estrogen and higher risk of breast cancer.

·         Testicular problems (i.e. undescended testicle, having one or both testicles removed)

·         Inherited gene mutation. Men with the BRCA2 gene have an increased risk of breast cancer, with a lifetime risk of about 6 in 100. BRCA1 mutations can also cause breast cancer in men, but the risk is lower, about 1 in 100.