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Objectives: The purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationship between food and beverage consumption and the development of breast cancer in men., Methods: Possible relationships of dietary factors to risk of breast cancer in men were assessed in a case-control study conducted between 1983 and 1986. Cases (N = 220) were ascertained from ten population-based cancer registries. Controls (N = 291) were selected by random-digit dialing (< age 65) and from Health Care Financing Administration Medicare beneficiary lists (> or = age 65)., Results: No trends in risk were observed with increasing intakes of specific foods, except for an increase in risk with citrus fruits. No increase in risk with increasing amounts of specific fats, vitamins, or minerals or with amounts of protein, fiber, carbohydrate, starches, nitrites, or alcohol consumed was observed, except for an increase in risk with dietary vitamin C consumption. A decreasing trend in risk with dietary niacin and with coffee and an increasing trend in risk with tea consumption were observed. No associations were found with use of any dietary supplements, including vitamin C., Conclusions: The observed associations are not consistent with findings from studies of breast cancer in women and probably do not represent causal relationships. Dietary factors are unlikely to be strong determinants of breast cancer in men.

The purposes of this study were to determine whether exposure of the vestigial male breast to ionizing radiation is associated with an increase in risk of breast cancer and, if so, to determine whether the apparent effects on risk in men are similar to those reported for women. A population-based case-control study of breast cancer in men was conducted in 10 geographic areas of the United States. Information on possible prior exposure to ionizing radiation, and on other potential risk factors for breast cancer, was obtained from personal interviews of 227 cases and 300 controls who were recruited from October 1983 to September 1986. Evidence from this study that ionizing radiation can cause breast cancer in men includes: a modest trend of increasing risk with frequency of chest X-rays; an increase in risk in men with three or more radiographic examinations, especially if received prior to 1963; and an increase in risk in men who received X-ray treatments to the chest and adjacent body areas. Risk was increased only from 20 to 35 years after initial exposure from either radiographic examinations or X-ray treatments, and declined after three to four decades since last exposure, suggesting a wave of increased risk of finite duration following exposure. The doses of radiation received could not be estimated precisely, but those from diagnostic procedures were likely similar to those received by prepubertal females in prior studies, and the results of those and the present investigation are compatible. The carcinogenic effects of ionizing radiation may be similar in the male and prepubertal female breast.

Histologic slides from 282 incident cases of breast cancer in men, that were identified in 10 population-based cancer registries in the United States, were reviewed by a single pathologist. Breast cancer more often presented in the noninvasive stage in men (10.8 percent of all cases) than would be expected among women. All noninvasive carcinomas were of the ductal type. Of invasive carcinomas, compared with women, men had smaller proportions of lobular and mucinous types and larger proportions of ductal and papillary types and Paget's disease. No case of tubular or medullary carcinoma was seen. The breast in men is composed only of ducts and normally contains no lobules, and the histologic types of breast carcinomas that predominate in men are likely of ductal origin. Estrogen and progesterone receptors were present in 86.7 percent and 76.3 percent of invasive carcinomas, respectively, which are higher proportions than would be expected among women. Also, unlike findings in women, receptor content was not associated with patient age at diagnosis.

The temporal relationship between cervical infection with Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) or human papillomavirus (HPV) and the incidence rate of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade three (CIN III) was examined in a cohort of 43,016 Norwegian women. From 1980 to 1989, a cervico-vaginal infection from TV and HPV was diagnosed cytologically in 988 and 678 women, respectively. During the 181,240 person-years of observation, 440 cases of CIN III/cervical cancer developed. The age-adjusted incidence rates (IR) of CIN III were 225 per 100,000 person-years among women with no cytologic evidence of infection, 459 among women with TV infection, and 729 among women with HPV infection. A multiple regression model yielded a relative rate (RR) of CIN III of 2.1 (95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 1.3-3.4) among women with TV infection and 3.5 (CI = 1.9-6.6) among women with HPV infection, compared with women with neither infection. As CIN can be misclassified as HPV infection, the entry Pap-smears of 10 women with HPV infection who later developed CIN III were re-examined. Excluding the four discordant cases with the corresponding person-years decreased the RR of CIN III to 2.1 (CI = 0.9-4.8). Our report demonstrates the limitations of studies that rely only on cytologic detection of HPV infection. Nevertheless, the results support the hypothesis that HPV is a causal factor for CIN III lesions, and also display an association between TV infection and cervical neoplasia.