[Male breast cancer: about 123 cases collected at the Institute Salah-Azaiz of Tunis from 1979 to 1999]

Male breast cancer is rare compared to its female counterpart representing less than 1% of cancer in men. The objective of our retrospective study is to report the epidemiologic and clinical profile and to analyse the therapeutic results and prognostic factors in a Tunisian population collected during a period of 20 years at a single institution. We collected from 1979 to 1999, all the histological confirmed male breast cancers treated at our institution. We analyse the following data: age, clinical presentation and features, therapeutic protocol, results and prognostic factors. Survival was done with the Kaplan-Meier method and comparison with the log-rank test. 123 cases of male breast carcinoma were collected with a median age of 65 years. Most patients (62.2%) have an advanced T4 disease with bilateral lesions in 4 cases. Infiltrating ductal carcinoma represent 91% of all tumours. 85% of tumours expressed hormonal receptor. The treatment consisted in a radical mastectomy in 93 cases (84%) followed by radiotherapy, chemotherapy and in many cases by hormonotherapy. After a median follow up of 26 month, 22 patients presented loco regional recurrence and 41 metastases. Estimated 5-year survival rate was 62%. The presence of metastasis, nodal involvement, advanced disease, and grade affected survival. Male breast cancer represent at our institution 1 % of the male cancers treated comparable to the literature data. T4 tumours represent a higher rate, the treatment approach is the standard applicable in breast cancer; prognostic factors are the classical one like breast cancer in women.