Yes, men can get breast cancer. It’s uncommon, but it’s real: an estimated 2,800 men in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2025. About 0.1% of men in the general population will develop it by age 70, compared to roughly 13% of women. Because most men don’t think of themselves as at risk, the diagnosis often comes later, which can affect outcomes.
Why Men Have Breast Tissue
Men and women are both born with breast tissue. The difference is what happens at puberty. In women, hormones stimulate the growth of milk-producing glands and an extensive duct system. In men, that development never kicks in, so male breast tissue stays mostly fatty with only a few small ducts and a thin layer of tissue sitting just behind the nipple. That tissue is enough, though. Cancer can still develop in those ducts and cells, and the bulk of male breast tumors form directly beneath the nipple and the surrounding darker skin.
What Raises the Risk
The common thread in most male breast cancer risk factors is an imbalance that tips the body toward higher estrogen levels relative to testosterone. Several conditions create that shift.
Genetics: Inherited mutations in the BRCA genes, particularly BRCA2, are the strongest known genetic risk factor. Men who carry a harmful BRCA2 change have a 1.8% to 7.1% chance of developing breast cancer by age 70, up from the baseline 0.1%. BRCA1 mutations carry a smaller but still elevated risk of 0.2% to 1.2%. Men with Klinefelter syndrome, a condition involving an extra X chromosome, face a roughly 19-fold increase in incidence compared to the general male population.
Obesity: Excess body fat doubles the risk of male breast cancer. Fat tissue converts testosterone into estrogen through a process called aromatization, gradually shifting the hormonal balance.
Liver disease: A damaged liver struggles to break down estrogen, allowing levels to climb. In parts of central Africa, relatively high rates of male breast cancer have been linked to widespread liver damage from infectious diseases. Cirrhosis from any cause, including heavy alcohol use, has the same effect.
Family history: A close relative, male or female, with breast cancer raises your risk even without a known gene mutation.
Symptoms to Recognize
The most common sign is a painless lump or swelling in the breast, usually right behind the nipple. Because men have so little breast tissue, even a small lump can be noticeable if you’re paying attention. Other signs include:
- Redness or flaky skin on the breast
- Dimpling or puckering of the skin
- Nipple discharge, sometimes bloody
- A nipple that pulls inward or becomes painful
Many men dismiss these changes or assume they’re related to something minor like a cyst. That delay is one reason male breast cancer tends to be caught at a later stage than female breast cancer. Any persistent change in the chest area is worth getting checked.
How It’s Diagnosed
Diagnosis typically starts with a physical exam. The main challenge for doctors is distinguishing cancer from gynecomastia, a common and harmless enlargement of male breast tissue that can also cause lumps. On a mammogram, gynecomastia shows up as a flame-shaped density that blends into surrounding fat, while cancerous masses tend to look more defined and irregular. Men can and do get mammograms, along with ultrasound, to evaluate a suspicious lump. If imaging raises concern, a biopsy confirms or rules out cancer.
Treatment and What to Expect
Male breast cancer is treated with largely the same approach used for women. Surgery is the primary step, and because there’s so little breast tissue in men, a mastectomy (removal of the breast tissue on the affected side) is the most common procedure. Some men with smaller tumors may be candidates for a lumpectomy, which removes only the tumor and a margin of surrounding tissue.
After surgery, additional treatment depends on the cancer’s characteristics. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy follow the same principles as in female breast cancer. The big difference is hormonal therapy. The vast majority of male breast cancers are hormone receptor-positive, meaning they grow in response to hormones. For these cases, tamoxifen is the standard recommendation, taken daily for five years. Men at high risk of recurrence may continue for an additional five years. Side effects can include hot flashes, weight changes, and mood shifts.
If a man had a lumpectomy, annual mammograms on the treated side are recommended going forward. Men with a genetic mutation may also be offered yearly imaging on the opposite side.
Survival Rates by Stage
When male breast cancer is caught early, the outlook is good. Based on data from men diagnosed between 2015 and 2021, the five-year relative survival rates break down by how far the cancer has spread:
- Localized (confined to the breast): 97%
- Regional (spread to nearby lymph nodes): 86%
- Distant (spread to other parts of the body): 31%
These numbers reinforce why early detection matters so much. A localized tumor found beneath the nipple has a vastly different prognosis than one discovered after it has spread to distant organs. The gap between 97% and 31% is the cost of delay.
Who Should Be Especially Aware
Most men don’t need routine breast cancer screening. But certain groups should be more vigilant about self-checks and discuss monitoring with their doctors. If you carry a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, have Klinefelter syndrome, have a strong family history of breast cancer, or have had significant chest radiation earlier in life, you fall into a higher-risk category. Obesity and chronic liver disease also warrant extra attention. For these men, being familiar with how your chest normally looks and feels is a simple first step that costs nothing and can make a real difference in how early a problem gets caught.