A male patient from the West Indies with invasive ductal carcinoma in the right breast: a case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND

Men with breast carcinoma have a poor prognosis, especially in the younger age group (30-40 years of age), because most breast enlargements in young men are dismissed as gynecomastia, resulting in an unnecessary delay in treatment.

OBJECTIVE

We describe the case of a young male patient with invasive ductal breast carcinoma.

CASE SUMMARY: In November 2005, a 30-year-old Afro-Caribbean man presented at St. Clair Medical Centre in Port of Spain, Trinidad, with a painless lump in the right breast. Diagnostic findings revealed that the patient had stage II invasive ductal carcinoma, for which he underwent a mastectomy with total axillary clearance.

CONCLUSION

Surgeons investigating unilateral breast swellings in young males should not dismiss them simply as gynecomastia, and should be wary of cancer.