Breast cancer is a rare disease in men, but it does happen. A study found that men diagnosed with breast cancer were 16% more likely than men without breast cancer to develop another, new cancer. For some men, the second cancer was a new breast cancer (not spread from the first breast cancer). Other men in the study developed another type of cancer, including colon, bladder, stomach, and skin cancer. The study couldn't say why men who had breast cancer had a higher risk of a second cancer.
There are factors that increase the risk of breast cancer in men. These include a family history of breast cancer, genetic mutations, obesity, alcohol, and using hormonal medicines. It's likely that these and other unknown factors increase a man's risk of cancer, including breast cancer. The challenge to doctors is to identify these unknown risk factors for cancer. When the risk factors are known and understood, men AND women will have the hope that they can more effectively lower their risk of all forms of cancer, including breast cancer.
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