Screening for Breast Cancer in Men Has Increased Over Time

(HealthDay News) — Screening for breast cancer in men has increased over time, with high sensitivity and specificity for mammographic screening, according to a study published online Sept. 17 in Radiology.

Yiming Gao, M.D., from the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study reviewing male breast imaging examinations during a 12-year period from 2005 to 2017.

The researchers found that 1,869 men underwent 2,052 examinations yielding 2,304 breast lesions, which resulted in 149 biopsies in 133 men; of these, 27.5 and 72.5 percent were malignant and benign, respectively. There were 1,781 and 271 diagnostic and screening examinations (86.8 and 13.2 percent). Personal or family history of breast cancer and/or genetic mutations were reported among all men undergoing screening. The number of examinations increased significantly in men relative to women over time. From screening mammography, five node-negative cancers resulted, yielding a cancer detection rate of 18 per 1,000 examinations; the cancers were diagnosed after four person-years of screening on average. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value of biopsy were 100, 95.0, and 50 percent, respectively, for mammographic screening. Associations for breast cancer were seen for older age, Ashkenazi descent, genetic mutations, personal history, and first-degree family history. There was no correlation for non-first-degree family history with cancer.

“Selective screening in men at elevated risk for breast cancer was beneficial in our study,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the medical device industry.

Abstract/Full Text