Breakthrough in Male Breast Cancer
15 September 2011 - The world’s largest study into the genes that cause breast cancer in men has returned its first results.
The collaboration between the ICR and Breakthrough Breast Cancer, called the Male Breast Cancer Study, has revealed similarities with the female disease but also identified some differences that could potentially lead to tailored treatments.
The team studied 433 male breast cancer cases and looked at the 12 most common genes that contribute to risk of breast cancer in females.
They showed that five of these genes significantly affect risk in men too, but that the extent of risk was different between the sexes.
Male breast cancer is rare, affecting around 300 men in the UK each year, and so knowledge of male breast cancer and what causes it is extremely limited.
This study is one of the first steps towards understanding the causes of male breast cancer, and the team also believe that the results could improve understanding of the genetic causes of female breast cancer as well.
