Breast Cancer and the Male-Female Divide: It's Even More Complicated

Breast cancer in men has traditionally been reported to have a worse prognosis than breast cancer in women. Such conclusion was based on the later stage at diagnosis as well as older age commonly observed in men with breast cancer. Lack of early detection and disparities in treatment were believed to be responsible for worse outcomes. Several earlier studies reported similar stage-specific survival when comparing male to female breast cancer. Hence, the consensus was that male and female breast cancer were biologically similar, and that gender should not be considered a predictor of survival apart from stage of presentation and patient age.