Male Breast Carcinoma: An Immunohistochemical Study of 50 Cases From Iran

Male breast carcinoma (MBC) is an unusual form of neoplasia, representing 0.7 to 1 percent of all breast cancer cases. Usually, the carcinoma affects patients after the sixth decade. The aim of this study was to evaluate the status of estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER and PR) and prognostic factors (p53 and Her-2/neu) in a series of male patients with breast cancer and correlate them with tumor grade and stage. Fifty cases of breast carcinoma in male patients, retrieved from the files of the Cancer Institute from 1996 until 2005 was included in this study. Most of the cases were categorized as grade 2 (65.3%), grade 1 cases comprised 20.4% and grade 3 was 14.3%. Stage IIb was the largest group (32%). Estrogen receptor was detected in 90% of cases and progesterone receptor in 68% of cases and no significant correlation was found between estrogen and progesterone receptor positivity and tumor grade or stage. In addition, p53 and Her-2/ neu staining revealed positivity in 11 cases (27.5%) and 13 cases (26%) respectively with strong positivity in only 6 cases and no significant correlation was found between tumor grade and stage and p53 expression. It is clear from our data that Her-2/neu positivity in MBC is lower than in female breast carcinoma. This study, which comprises rather large series of MBC in Iran during a 10-year period, shows that most patients refer in rather late stages and prognostic factors such as p53 and Her-2/neu has no significant correlation with tumor grade and stage at presentation in our patients.