According to one of the largest known studies of its kind, at least one-fifth of male breast cancer patients stop treatment early due to the side effects of treatment.
The retrospective study was done by researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center by looking at the cases of male breast cancer that were treated at their facility between the years 1999 and 2009.
They uncovered 64 cases. Since breast cancer in men is typically hormone-receptor-positive, the standard treatment is tamoxifen. Because very little data exists concerning men and breast cancer, clinical decisions regarding their treatment are made based on women with the same breast cancer subtypes.
The study found that over half of the patients reported tamoxifen-related side effects and about one-fifth of them halted treatment on account of these side effects.
Researchers concluded that treatment recommendations shouldn't change on account of this; rather, doctors and other caregivers should be especially attentive to these patients and their potential need to be counseled appropriately about the possible side effects.
Source: OncLive
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