Histology Of Male Breast Lesions: Series Of Cases And Literature Review

Introduction: Male breast lesions are generally less common than lesions in female breast. Awareness of this pathology is low, and this is worsened by the embarrassment society wrongly puts on such individuals.

Aim: To study the patterns of male breast diseases in University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State Nigeria.  

Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of all male breast specimens that were histologically diagnosed in the Histopathology Department of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital over a 10‑year period from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2022. The specimens included excision biopsies, tru cut biopsies and mastectomy tissues.

Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0.

Results: A total of 26 male patients were encountered in this study series. This comprised 1.7% of all breast lesions during the study period. The age range with the most common lesion was 40-49 years making up 34.6% of cases. Lumpectomy specimens were the most common samples submitted in 80.8% of the cases. Non neoplastic lesions made up 76.9% of the lesions with gynecomastia being the most common non-neoplastic lesion (85%) and the most common male breast lesion (65.4%).  Neoplastic lesions comprised 23.1% of all lesions and all were malignant lesions.  Invasive breast carcinoma constituted 100% of the malignant lesions.

Conclusion: Awareness of breast male lesions should be raised. This will help reduce the societal stigma associated with it.