by Jared Reed  

On Pink Ribbon Day, the outlook for Australian women with breast cancer is becoming increasingly positive, but for men affected by the disease the prospects are less hopeful.  

While more women are being diagnosed with breast cancer due to the ageing population, mortality is decreasing and survival rates have increased by 15% to 88% since the 1980s, says a new AIHW report.  

The improvements may be attributable to earlier detection and better treatment outcomes, the report says.   However, other research this week shows that men with breast cancer miss out on early detection and aggressive treatment of the disease compared to women.  

A retrospective analysis of 150 men with breast cancer found that more than one in 10 did not receive surgical treatment such as mastectomy, and men were also less likely to receive adjuvant therapies such as radiotherapy or hormonal therapy for positive tumours.  

Without screening, most breast cancers in men were symptomatic and the tumour was more likely to be at an advanced stage at time of diagnosis, the authors say. But they say a lack of clear treatment guidelines for men may have contributed to less aggressive treatment and lower survival rates, they add.  

“It is particularly important that all factors are considered to ensure that male breast cancer patients also receive appropriate adjuvant therapies even after mastectomy,” write the researchers from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in The Breast (online 21 October).