An analysis done by a team of researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center has revealed that breast cancer is more deadly to men, as compared to women. The group's research was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
According to the recent study, men with breast cancer have a lower rate of survival than women patients.
The study called for 10 years worth of data as tracked by the research team using the National Cancer Database. Data collected were limited to men and women patients who had breast cancer.
Dr. Xiao-Ou Shu, the lead author of the study, pointed out that for the three-year survival rate, men patients had 86.4% and the women patients 91.7%. The doctor later added that their study has revealed that more research is necessary for the matter. Dr. Shu explained that it is important to pinpoint whether the lower survival rate for male patients has something to do with recurrence and biology.
Nancy Nick, the founder of malebreastcancer.org, emphasized the importance of such studies. Nick's parents both died of breast cancer and she has been pushing for the awareness of the risks of the disease for men from then on. She added that it shouldn't matter if it is rare for breast cancer to occur in men and that the important thing is that awareness should be pushed. Nick had the goal of reaching and encouraging researchers and drug makers to consider men patients as well when conducting studies on breast cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, one in every 1,000 men had breast cancer as opposed to chances for women which is one in every eight. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has compelled researchers to include men in clinical trials for breast cancer treatments even if men account for less than one percent of the patients.
Louise Morrell, the medical director of the Lynn Cancer Institute speculated that treatment for breast cancer in men might be different from the treatment for women. This was also the concern of many other researchers. Men with breast cancer commonly detect the symptoms at a very late stage, where, for some cases, cancer has already spread to other parts of the body.
Shu stated that current treatment for breast cancer patients follow the guidelines set for women patients, regardless of the patient is male or female. The study author is optimistic that future researchers would consider various factors such as genes, environment, lifestyle, and age, in figuring out why breast cancer is more deadly for men.
