Radiotherapy and Male Breast Cancer: A Population-based Registry Analysis

The local-regional management of female breast cancer has been extensively investigated worldwide. The optimal approach for males diagnosed with breast cancer is less clear. We have analyzed the treatment of male breast cancer using a population-based national registry to determine the impact of surgery and radiation therapy on survival. The Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database was queried to identify males with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast who underwent primary surgical resection (radical mastectomy, modified radical mastectomy, total mastectomy, or segmental) for the years 1983 to 2002. Demographic, clinical, and pathologic data were culled and analyzed to determine the impact of radiation therapy (RT) following resection. Survival rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and significance was determined using the log-rank test (P