Future Directions

Abstract

A rare disease can be a source of worry for both the patient and the doctor. There is one approach which will improve the treatment of male breast cancer and convince the patient that he is being managed optimally and that is to set up collaborative clinical and research networks based around a few hubs. At present, prevention is not a feasible option but health education has an important role in dispelling ignorance and encouraging early presentation of those with potential symptoms or signs of male breast cancer. Structured investigation should enable the majority to be reassured while the few with cancer can be promptly diagnosed and, when possible, specimens obtained not only for routine pathology but also for research tissue banks. There needs to be a greater emphasis on neoadjuvant treatment, mostly endocrine in nature to shrink primary tumours and enable more men to have less mutilating surgery. In the past many attempts were made to establish the similarities between male and female breast cancer. Sophisticated molecular analyses are now identifying multiple striking differences and the exploitation of these will in time lead to better prognostic models and new tailored therapies for male breast cancer.