Clinical manifestations of male breast disease

I believe everyone is familiar with breast disease. Breast disease is a common disease among female friends. The occurrence of breast disease brings serious harm to female friends, so we recommend that female friends should do a good job of preventing breast disease in their daily lives. In fact, male friends may also suffer from breast disease. There are many reasons that lead to male breast disease. Below we introduce the clinical manifestations of male breast disease.

A slim figure and plump breasts are the unique beauty of women, while it is embarrassing for men to have bulging breasts.

Normally, male testicles produce not only androgens but also estrogens. If for some reason androgens decrease and estrogens increase, the excess estrogens will stimulate mammary duct hyperplasia, thus causing male breast disease.

Male breast hypertrophy (male breast development) refers to the development and hypertrophy of one or both breasts in a female-like manner, and sometimes there is milk-like secretion. This disease can occur in different age groups, but it is more common in adolescence and old age. Its causes: 1. Long-term use of drugs with estrogen-like effects such as reserpine, remifentanil, digitalis, chlorpromazine, etc. 2. Endocrine disorders caused by liver disease, thyroid disease, diabetes, urinary, reproductive, and nervous system tumors increase the estrogen level in the body. 3. Abnormal testicular development, deformity, hypospadias, cryptorchidism, orchitis and tumors can also increase estrogen.

Male breast hypertrophy is most common with unilateral breast hypertrophy, accounting for about 90%, and bilateral breast hypertrophy accounts for 10%. The typical clinical manifestations are diffuse enlargement of the unilateral or bilateral breasts to varying degrees, accompanied by nodules or lumps around the nipples, dull pain or mild tenderness, and occasional serum-like discharge from the nipples. Men aged 30 to 50 years old have obvious breast development, hyperplasia and hypertrophy, often accompanied by testicular disease, liver disease or a history of oral estrogen. The diagnosis can be made if palpation reveals that the enlarged breasts are firm and nodular. If it is physiological or pharmacological, the patient does not need to be too nervous, as it can disappear on its own or after stopping the medication. Pathological breast development should be further diagnosed and treated.

Breast cancer in men is rare, accounting for 1% of all breast cancers. Its cause may be related to family history of cancer, trauma, and excess endogenous and exogenous estrogen. Long-term use of estrogen by patients with prostate hypertrophy or prostate cancer, and the inability to inactivate estrogen during liver cirrhosis can cause an increase in estrogen levels in the body. A history of male breast hypertrophy, congenital testicular dysgenesis, and mumps after the age of 20 can promote the occurrence of male breast cancer. The clinical manifestation is a lump under the areola, which is small, hard, and has unclear boundaries at first, and is often ignored because there is no pain or discomfort. Soon the lump grows rapidly, accompanied by nipple or areola retraction, nipple discharge, skin erosion, and enlarged axillary lymph nodes. Due to insufficient knowledge of male breast cancer and lack of regular breast self-examination, male breast cancer is often discovered late and misdiagnosed, resulting in the loss of treatment opportunities. Its prognosis is worse than that of female breast cancer. Therefore, it is recommended that men also conduct regular breast self-examinations and go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment as soon as abnormalities are found.

In the above article, we introduced a disease that is easy to occur in female friends, that is, breast disease. We now know that breast disease can also occur in men. The above article introduces the clinical manifestations of male breast disease in detail. I hope it can bring some help to everyone.