Prognostic factors of carcinoma of the male breast.

The clinical course of 50 male patients with carcinoma of the breast was reviewed. The disease most commonly presented in the seventh decade of life. The clinical examination of the axilla proved to be inaccurate. Survival time was highly correlated with the pathologic stage of the lesion. The five year survival rate was 80 per cent for patients with Stage I disease and 67 per cent for those with Stage II disease. By contrast, only 25 percent of patients with Stage III disease were alive at five years and all of the patients with Stage IV disease had died of the disease by the five year point. It appears that the prognosis for male patients with carcinoma of the breast is good if the appropriate therapy is undertaken at an early stage.