Male Breast Cancer Patient and Surgeon Experience: The Male WhySurg Study

Abstract

Background Little is known about the experience of the male breast cancer patient. Mastectomy is often offered despite evidence that breast-conserving surgery (BCS) provides similar outcomes. Methods Two concurrent online surveys were distributed from August to October 2020 via social media to male breast cancer (MBC) patients and by email to American Society of Breast Surgeon members. The MBC patients were asked their opinions about their surgery, and the surgeons were asked to provide surgical recommendations for MBC patients. Results The survey involved 63 MBC patients with a mean age of 62 years (range, 31–79 years). Five MBC patients (7.9 %) stated that their surgeon recommended BCS, but 54 (85.7 %) of the patients underwent unilateral, and 8 (12.7 %) underwent bilateral mastectomy. Most of the patients ( n = 60, 96.8 %) had no reconstruction. One third of the patients ( n = 21, 33.3 %) felt somewhat or very uncomfortable with their appearance after surgery. The response rate was 16.5 % for the surgeons. Of the 438 surgeons who answered the survey, 298 (73.3 %) were female, 215 (51.7 %) were fellowship-trained, and 244 (58.9 %) had been practicing for 16 years or longer. More than half of surgeons ( n = 259, 59.1 %) routinely offered BCS to eligible men, and 180 (41.3 %) stated they had performed BCS on a man with breast cancer. Whereas 89 (20.8 %) of the surgeons stated that they routinely offer reconstruction to MBC patients, 87 (20.3 %) said they do not offer reconstruction, 96 (22.4 %) said they offer it only if the patient requests it, and 157 (36.6 %) said they never consider it as an option. Conclusions The study found discordance between MBC patients’ satisfaction with their surgery and surgeon recommendations and experience. These data present an opportunity to optimize the MBC patient experience.

Experiences and perceptions of men following breast cancer diagnosis: a mixed method systematic review

“…For instance, in one study that included 37 men with breast cancer, radiotherapy (89.2%), hormonal therapy (56.7%), and chemotherapy (91.8%) were adjuvant therapies after surgery [ 48 ]. In one study, the authors reported several therapeutic regimens offered to men with breast cancer which included breast conserving surgeries, unilateral/ bilateral mastectomy, often with no reconstruction [ 44 ]. One third of the male breast cancer patients in the same study ( n = 21) felt somewhat or very uncomfortable with their appearance after the surgery.…”

“…Factors influencing distress included negative body image, fear and uncertainty regarding breast cancer Moderate (61) 6. Chichura et al 2022 [ 44 ] USA To assess MBC patients’ opinions and perspectives about the surgical approach for their breast cancer and to compare their experiences with surgeon recommendations for MBC Quantitative 63 MBC patients and n = 438 surgeons were surveyed online. The mean age of patients was 62 ± 11 years (range 31–79 years), and the majority reported their race/ethnicity to be non-Hispanic white ( n = 55).…”

23rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons: Back to In-Person Scientific Exploration

“…The Outstanding Scientific Presentation Award for the best paper presented by a medical student, resident, or fellow was awarded to Dr. Anna Chichura, a fellow from the NorthShore and University of Chicago in Evanston, IL, for the paper entitled ''The Male WhySurg Study: Patient and Surgeon Experience'', an innovative survey conducted on surgeons and male breast cancer patients highlighting breast conservation is the preference for men as well as women. 3 The Scientific Impact Award for the best paper, as voted on by the audience, was awarded to Dr. Giacamo Montagna from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, for his paper entitled ''Is Nodal Clipping Beneficial for Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy?''. 4 This paper suggests that as long as a thorough sentinel node procedure is performed, including excision of more than three sentinel nodes with utilization of dual tracer, this approach is oncologically safe even if the clipped node cannot be located intraoperatively in patients who had positive nodes prior to neoadjuvant therapy.…”

Development and validation of nomograms to predict the survival probability and occurrence of a second primary malignancy of male breast cancer patients: a population-based analysis

“…Male breast cancer (MBC) has a similar mortality rate to female breast cancer at 17% (2). Mortality rates in Europe remained fairly stable, but the USA indicated an increase in incidence (3,4). This trend could result from an increase in longevity in the population, since age is the major determinant of risk for most solid tumors.…”