Second Cancer after Breast Cancer in Men

Abstract

Breast cancer is relatively rare in men; however, the overall prevalence of breast cancer in men is steadily increasing. Due to the increasing prevalence of the disease, the final consequences of these patients have become more important. One of the major adverse outcomes in surviving patients is secondary cancer following primary breast cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the second cancer in men who have survived primary breast cancer. The risk of developing primary second cancers is higher in men with primary breast cancer than in women. Few studies have evaluated the risk of secondary cancers, other than breast cancer, in men with breast cancer. Men who had a history of breast cancer are 10 to 20 times more likely to develop second breast cancer than women, which increases with aging. The association of prostate and breast cancer in the family has been suggested in specific populations, and some studies have shown an increase in prostate cancer in men surviving breast cancer. Lung cancer has also increased in men after breast cancer, but the risk is lower than in women, which is affected by age and gender survival. Melanoma is the second cancer in older survivor men of certain races after one year of follow-up. Gastric cancer after breast cancer showed an increasing prevalence in younger men and surviving more than ten years and familial accumulation of cancer. Pancreatic cancer also increased in men with a family history of breast cancer and mutated genes after primary breast cancer. The risk of second cancer in men with primary breast cancer, like the first cancer, is multifactorial, and genetic and environmental factors can influence its prevalence. Therefore, more extensive research is needed to better understanding of interrelationship of etiological factors and to provide screening and early detection strategies in affected men.