Although breast cancer in men is still a rarity, the incidence is increasing, according to a study published in the May 24, 2004, online edition of Cancer. Using data from the National Cancer Institute’s, “Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 1973–1998” database, researchers found that male breast cancer rose from 0.86 per 100,000 men in 1973 to 1.08 in 1998. Men also had a higher median age at diagnosis and were more likely to have lymph-node involvement.
The American Cancer Society estimates that 1,450 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among men in the United States in 2004. About 40,580 people will die from breast cancer in that same year (40,110 women, 470 men). Breast cancer accounts for about 0.22% (two-tenths of a percent) of cancer deaths among men, and is about 100 times more common among women.