Can men get breast cancer?

Yes, men can get breast cancer, but it is rare. Breast cancer mostly affects women aged 45 and older. However, anyone with breasts can get breast cancer. It is rare in children and in men.

The reason comes down to anatomy. Everyone is born with a small amount of breast tissue behind the nipple. It contains milk ducts plus the fatty and fibrous tissue around them. Puberty makes that tissue grow in women. In men it stays small, but the cells are the same kind of cells. Breast cancer happens when cells in the breast grow without control and form a tumor that may spread to other parts of the body. Those cells do not check anyone's sex first.

Rare has a number attached to it. About 1 out of every 100 breast cancers found in the United States occurs in a man. For 2025, roughly 2,800 men were expected to be diagnosed and about 510 to die of the disease. The average age at diagnosis falls between 60 and 70.

The usual first sign is a firm, painless lump just under the nipple. Other signs include a nipple that pulls inward, bleeding or discharge from the nipple, redness or flaky skin, dimpling, or a sore on the breast that will not heal. Doctors have a name for skin that turns thick and pitted like an orange peel: peau d'orange. Any of these deserve a visit, and none of them are normal for a man.

Not every lump is cancer. Many men develop gynecomastia, which is harmless growth of breast tissue. It often comes from a hormone shift, liver disease, kidney failure, low testosterone, obesity, alcohol, or certain medicines, including some used for prostate cancer or heart conditions. Gynecomastia usually starts as a tender lump under the nipple and often affects both sides. The features that point toward cancer instead are growth on one side only, a hard lump that feels stuck to the tissue around it, a skin sore over the breast, or bloody nipple discharge. An exam and imaging are what settle the question.

Inherited genes carry more weight here than most people expect. A man who carries a harmful BRCA2 gene change has roughly a 6.8% chance of breast cancer by age 70, many times the risk of a man without it. Klinefelter syndrome, a condition in which a man is born with an extra X chromosome, also raises risk. So does past radiation to the chest and a strong family history.

Male breast tumors turn out to be remarkably consistent in their biology. In one large series, 99% were estrogen receptor positive and 82% were progesterone receptor positive, while only 9% were HER2 positive and 0.3% were triple negative. That means hormone-blocking treatment applies to almost every man diagnosed, usually with the drug tamoxifen. Side effects such as hot flashes and trouble with erections are common in men on tamoxifen, and they are a frequent reason men stop the drug early. Say so to your oncologist rather than quietly stopping, because there may be ways to manage it.

There is no routine screening program for men, so most male breast cancers are found because a man notices something. If you have a new lump, or if breast or ovarian cancer runs in your family, raise it with your doctor and ask whether genetic testing fits your situation.