Study finds men are less likely to survive breast cancer than women

While breast cancer is mostly associated with women than men, new research has emerged that male breast cancer patients are less likely to survive. The study, recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that men have a lower chance of survival within three to five years following a breast cancer diagnosis.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s surgical oncologist Dr. Monica Morrow agrees with the findings. According to the expert, breast cancer cases are far fewer in men but are usually identified when the disease has advanced.

Dr. Morrow told ABC News about the matter:

“Although later stage of diagnosis and undertreatment explain a large amount of difference in outcomes, they don’t explain them all, so all of the molecular research in women, we need to do those in men.”

However, not enough research has been done to understand the complications of the disease in men. Male patients accounting for less than one percent of all recorded breast cancer cases. This leaves a gap in funding and interest for research — something that will hopefully change as October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month brings more attention to male victims.

An average of 41,000 out of 245,000 diagnosed women die from breast cancer annually. In relation, around 460 out of 2,200 men die from the disease every year. These figures are presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vanderbilt University researchers who authored the JAMA study notes that a key factor in the low survival rates in men is undertreatment.