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Breast cancer in men is more unfavorable than in women
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
"Although the stronger sex encounters a disease such as breast cancer much less frequently than women, most likely, this diagnosis will be fatal," - oncologists conclude. The specialists conducted a comparative analysis of 1 million 440 thousand data, which were entered into the National American Cancer Information Database in 1998-2007.
For girls, the survival rate was 83% overall, and for men, 74%. The stronger sex lived on average about 8 years after diagnosis, while women lived about 10 years or more.
As Dr. John Greif, the study's author, summarizes, the statistical difference is partly due to the fact that the majority of people are more aware of breast cancer in women, and this means that women check their health more often.
This means that female patients often detect malignant tumors at early stages, thereby significantly simplifying the work of oncologists. In men, unfortunately, cancer is noticed much later, when the malignant neoplasm has already grown, formed and has metastasized to regional lymph nodes.
As for risk factors, for men, as well as for women, their list includes: genetic predisposition and the presence of cancer patients in the family, the influence of radiation, smoking, excess body weight, lack of physical activity. Also, those men who suffer from diseases that change the hormonal background or have a high level of estrogen should be especially concerned.
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