Bilateral primary breast carcinoma in a man

The case history is presented of a 56-year-old man, who had a second primary carcinoma in the contralateral breast after 13 years. Both times, he underwent a modified radical mastectomy. The axillary lymph nodes were free from tumour. The incidence in men is about 1 per cent being bilateral in 14 out of 1,000 of these cases. The therapy for men is the same as for women. Because of the smaller breast volume, tumours in men are earlier discovered and show infiltration. If metastases cannot be detected, the first choice of treatment is surgical. Radiotherapy is indicated in case surgical intervention has not been radical.