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Male Breast Lesions

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Book cover Atlas of Differential Diagnosis in Breast Pathology

Part of the book series: Atlas of Anatomic Pathology ((AAP))

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Abstract

The structure of the male breast is almost identical to that of the female breast, yet both benign and malignant breast neoplasms are rare in males. Until puberty, the male and female breasts are identical, composed of lactiferous ducts and fibrofatty stroma. In males, testosterone levels increase during puberty, causing involution and atrophy of the ducts. In females, both stroma and ducts proliferate and lobular units develop in response to oestrogen and progesterone. The normal adult male breast is composed primarily of a small nipple-areolar complex, subcutaneous adipose tissue, stromal elements, and a few poorly developed ductal structures that end blindly. Cooper ligaments are absent, and terminal ductal lobular unit formation is rare, which explains the rarity of many lesions such as cysts, fibroadenomas, phyllodes tumours, and lobular neoplasia. Most lesions in the male breast are of ductal origin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Pathology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

    Puay Hoon Tan

  2. The University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Aysegul A. Sahin

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Tan, P.H., Sahin, A.A. (2017). Male Breast Lesions. In: Atlas of Differential Diagnosis in Breast Pathology. Atlas of Anatomic Pathology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6697-4_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6697-4_14

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