Because male breast cancer is so uncommon, it has been difficult for researchers to accumulate extensive data. Men tend to be somewhat older than women at the time of diagnosis, and the disease is often at a more advanced stage. When the disease is advanced, they usually receive some kind of hormone therapy, which is even more effective in men than in women. In the United States, male breast cancer accounts for 1 of every 100 cases of breast cancer. All of the types of breast cancer seen in women can occur in men, although some are quite rare.
Lobular carcinomas are very unusual, because lobules are normally absent from the male breast.
Most breast cancers in men are carcinomas. The incidence of breast cancer in men, as in women, increases with age. The average age of men at diagnosis is 65. Symptoms A painless lump, usually discovered by the man himself, is by far the most common first symptom of male breast cancer. Typically the lump appears beneath the Areola , where breast tissue is concentrated.