Evolving trends in the initial locoregional management of male breast cancer

The locoregional management of breast cancer in men has evolved over time. Multimodality treatment regimens currently in use are based primarily on large randomized trials that exclusively enrolled women with breast cancer. We retrospectively reviewed cases of male breast cancer treated with radiotherapy at Stanford University Medical Center with an emphasis on 22 patients treated with surgery and locoregional radiotherapy. We report trends in the surgical techniques as well as in the use of adjuvant radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and hormonal therapy. There were no isolated locoregional failures in this cohort, and 5-year disease-free survival was 65%. The use of contemporary surgical and radiotherapeutic techniques in men is discussed. We conclude that treatment guidelines designed for women should be applied to the locoregional management of breast cancer in men. However, large international prospective registries and inclusion of men in cooperative group randomized trials will be important to confirm the safety and efficacy of modern treatment modalities for male breast cancer.