believe 51--a new article on bc in men

[Lani]

Men With Breast Cancer Have Same Disease-Specific and Event-Free Survival as Women
Journal Annals of Surgical Oncology
Publisher Springer New York
ISSN 1068-9265 (Print) 1534-4681 (Online)
Issue Volume 16, Number 4 / April, 2009
Category Breast Oncology
DOI 10.1245/s10434-009-0327-6
Pages 972-978
Subject Collection Medicine
SpringerLink Date Friday, January 30, 2009

Frédéric Marchal1 , Magalie Salou1, Christian Marchal2, Anne Lesur1 and Emmanuel Desandes3

(1) Department of Surgery, CRAN, Nancy-Université, CNRS, Centre Alexis Vautrin, Avenue de Bourgogne, 54511 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France
(2) Department of Radiotherapy, Nancy-Université, Centre Alexis Vautrin, Regional Cancer Center, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France
(3) Department of Biostatistics, Nancy-Université, Centre Alexis Vautrin, Regional Cancer Center, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France
Received: 28 November 2008 Revised: 29 December 2008 Accepted: 29 December 2008 Published online: 30 January 2009

Abstract
Background Breast carcinoma in men is an uncommon disease. The aim of this study is to compare overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) in a group of matched men and women with breast cancer.
Methods Each man with breast cancer recorded in the database was matched with two women. Matching was done based on age, year of diagnosis, and stage. To compare breast cancer characteristics between men and women, the chi-square test was used for qualitative data and the t-test for quantitative data. Overall survival and DSS were calculated using Kaplan-Meier methods. Cox proportional hazards models have been used to compare survival rates between men and women.
Results The 58 male breast cancer patients were matched with 116 female patients. The mean age at diagnosis was 63.9 ± 11.9 years for men and 65.7 ± 11.5 years for women (P = .72). The median follow-up was 9.7 years for men and 10.7 years for women. The 5- and 10-year OS for men were, respectively, 58.9% and 33.9%. The 5- and 10-year OS for women were 68.2% and 52.1%. Men with breast cancer had a significant risk of dying compared with women (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.59; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.04–2.42, P = .03). The 5- and 10-year DSS were 73.0% and 55.1% for men, and 72.8 and 61.2% for women, respectively. There was no difference in DSS between the two matched groups (HR = 1.26; 95% CI, 0.76–2.10, P = .37).
Conclusions The prognosis for men with breast carcinoma is similar to that for women with similar-stage disease.

[Believe51]

Thanks Lani (aka Santa), I so appreciate hearing this today, although any day I would welcome this. I know that this disease is more aggressive with men and difficult to control at this stage of his game.

I am so pleased to see the amount of study and recoginition that MBC has received since his diagnosis. There was almost no mention of it in any brouchure etc. I picked up. My have we come far with advocating and studying how this cancer behaves in men. We still have so much further to go but it is nice to be around to see the advancements.

I will always advocate for MBC for all my years to come. I feel so less alone these days. Again, I needed this so and thank you once again. So thankful>>Believe51