Purpose
This study aimed to determine the incidence of male breast cancer (MBC) and its survival outcomes in Korea, and to compare these results to those for female breast cancer (FBC).
Materials and Methods
We searched the Korea Central Cancer Registry and identified 227,122 breast cancer cases that were diagnosed between 1999 and 2016. Demographic and clinical characteristics and overall survival (OS) rates were estimated according to sex, age, histological type, and cancer stage.
Results
The 227,122 patients included 1,094 MBC cases and 226,028 FBC cases. Based on the age-standardized rate, the male: female ratio was 0.0055:1. The most common ages at diagnosis were 60-69 years for MBC and 40-49 years for FBC (p < 0.001). Male patients were less likely than female patients to receive adjuvant radiotherapy (7.5% vs. 21.8%, p < 0.001) or adjuvant chemotherapy (40.1% vs. 55.4%, p < 0.001). The 5-year OS rates after diagnosis were 88.8% for all patients, although it was significantly lower for MBC than for FBC (76.2% vs. 88.9%, p < 0.001). In both groups, older age (≥ 60 years) was associated with shorter survival. The 5-year OS rates for the invasive histological types were 75.8% for men and 89.0% for women. The 5-year OS rates in both groups decreased with increasing cancer stage.
Conclusion
MBC was diagnosed at older ages than FBC, and male patients were less likely to receive radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The survival outcomes were worse for MBC than for FBC, with even poorer outcomes related to older age, the inflammatory histological types, and advanced stage. It is important that clinicians recognize the differences between FBC and MBC when treating these patients.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Therapeutic Management in Elderly Male Breast Cancer Patients: A Scoping Review Alessia Di Rito, Antonietta Grillo, Roberta Carbonara Current Oncology Reports.2025; 27(2): 120. CrossRef
HER2 expression and pathway status in male breast cancer patients: results of an integrated analysis among 6,150 patients Boqiang Lyu, Shidi Zhao, Hui Wang, Shouping Gong, Biyuan Wang Scientific Reports.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Comparative Net Survival Analysis of Men and Women With Breast Cancer in Japan: A Population‐Based Study Daisy Sibale Mojoo, Isao Oze, Hiroshi Tsuge, Yukari Taniyama, Yuriko N. Koyanagi, Sayaka Yamamoto, Megumi Hori, Kayo Nakata, Hiromi Sugiyama, Isao Miyashiro, Izumi Oki, Yoshikazu Nishino, Yuri Ito, Kota Katanoda, Akiko Shibata, Tomohiro Matsuda, Keitaro M Cancer Science.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Trends and Age-Period-Cohort Effect on Incidence of Male Breast Cancer from 1980 to 2019 in Taiwan and the USA Jhao-Yang Peng, Yu-Kwang Lee, Rong-Qi Pham, Xiao-Han Shen, I-Hui Chen, Yong-Chen Chen, Hung-Shu Fan Cancers.2024; 16(2): 444. CrossRef
The features of male breast cancer in China: A real-world study Yuxuan Gao, Mengmeng Zhang, Gang Sun, Li Ma, Jianyun Nie, Zhongyu Yuan, Zhenzhen Liu, Yali Cao, Jianbin Li, Qiang Liu, Songqing Ye, Bo Chen, Yuhua Song, Kun Wang, Yu Ren, Guolin Ye, Ling Xu, Shu Liu, Qianjun Chen, Weiwen Li, Xinxin Chen, Peifen Fu, Wei We The Breast.2024; 76: 103762. CrossRef
Clinicopathologic Features and Prognoses of Male Patients With Breast Cancer Meiling Huang, Jingjing Xiao, Changjiao Yan, Rui Ling, Ting Wang American Journal of Men's Health.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Stage and Type of Male Breast Cancer Presented at Mankweng Academic Hospital from 2015-2023 Fumani Charles Makhandule, Mirza Mohamod Zahir Uddin Bhuiyan European Journal of Medical and Health Sciences.2024; 6(6): 1. CrossRef
Impacts of Subtype on Clinical Feature and Outcome of Male Breast Cancer: Multicenter Study in Korea (KCSG BR16-09) Jieun Lee, Keun Seok Lee, Sung Hoon Sim, Heejung Chae, Joohyuk Sohn, Gun Min Kim, Kyung-Hee Lee, Su Hwan Kang, Kyung Hae Jung, Jae-ho Jeong, Jae Ho Byun, Su-Jin Koh, Kyoung Eun Lee, Seungtaek Lim, Hee Jun Kim, Hye Sung Won, Hyung Soon Park, Guk Jin Lee, S Cancer Research and Treatment.2023; 55(1): 123. CrossRef
Risk of Lymphedema and Death after Lymph Node Dissection with Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Treatments in Patients with Breast Cancer: An Eight-Year Nationwide Cohort Study Ye-Seul Lee, Yu-Cheol Lim, Jiyoon Yeo, Song-Yi Kim, Yoon Jae Lee, In-Hyuk Ha Healthcare.2023; 11(13): 1833. CrossRef
Diagnostic performance of screening mammography according to menstrual cycle among Asian women Mi-ri Kwon, Yoosoo Chang, Inyoung Youn, Shin Ho Kook, Yoosun Cho, Boyoung Park, Seungho Ryu Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.2023; 202(2): 357. CrossRef
Clinicopathological features and correlation analysis of male breast cancer Lei Xi, Jinxing Zhou, Yan Wu, Rong Rong Medicine.2023; 102(30): e34408. CrossRef
Germline variants profiling of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in Chinese Hakka breast and ovarian cancer patients Yunuo Zhang, Heming Wu, Zhikang Yu, Liang Li, Jinhong Zhang, Xinhong Liang, Qingyan Huang BMC Cancer.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Poor prognosis of male triple-positive breast Cancer patients: a propensity score matched SEER analysis and molecular portraits Biyuan Wang, Hui Wang, Andi Zhao, Mi Zhang, Jin Yang BMC Cancer.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
Prognostic difficulties of men with breast cancer Ian S. Fentiman The Breast Journal.2021; 27(12): 877. CrossRef
Clinicopathological features and prognosis of male breast cancer Xinli Wang, Shusong Liu, Yan Xue Journal of International Medical Research.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
Prognostic Factors in Male Breast Cancer: A Retrospective Nationwide Study in South Korea by the Study of SMARTSHIP Group Sungmin Park, Ho Hur, Ji Sung Lee, JaeSun Yoon, Sung Mo Hur, Il Yong Chung, Jong Won Lee, Hyun Jo Youn, Se Jeong Oh, Cheol Wan Lim, Jihyoun Lee Journal of Breast Cancer.2021; 24(6): 561. CrossRef
Male breast cancer: A closer look at patient and tumor characteristics and factors associated with survival Jing Zhao, Bin Wang, Jing Zhao, Yiran Mao, Jun Liu, Yanfang Yang Thoracic Cancer.2020; 11(11): 3107. CrossRef