This will be the largest study into male breast cancer carried out to date. It aims to pinpoint potential causes of male breast cancer by investigating genetic, environmental and behavioural risk factors.
Overview
Although breast cancer is mainly a disease that affects women, it also occurs in men, with around 300 cases diagnosed in the UK each year. There is evidence of a large overlap in genetic, environmental and behavioural risk factors between men and women. A wide range of variables have been suggested as possible risk factors for breast cancer in men, including high alcohol consumption, obesity, lack of exercise, infertility, diabetes, family history of breast cancer, and exposure to ionising radiation, electromagnetic fields, high temperatures, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
The key limitation in the investigation of male breast cancer aetiology to date has been the small size of published studies. The Male Breast Cancer Study is a much larger study than any conducted previously. It has the potential to investigate gene/environmental interactions and risks subdivided by hormone receptor status, and to determine any links between male breast cancer and Klinefelter’s syndrome -this is a genetic disease where males carry an extra X chromosome, thus becoming XXY rather than XY, and these men have a 60-fold raised risk of developing breast cancer.
It is possible that a better understanding of breast cancer in men might illuminate the aetiology of breast cancer in women, especially as risk factors in men can be examined without confounding by menstrual factors and childbearing. In addition, tumour samples will be subjected to immunohistochemical analysis, and the researchers also hope to investigate potential therapeutic targets.
Research Aims
The Male Breast Cancer Study is a national population-based case-control study of the aetiology of breast cancer in men in England & Wales. The study aims to:
- 1) Investigate the genetic, environmental and behavioural aetiology of breast cancer in men on a much larger scale than any study previously, in order to find potentially preventable causes of breast cancer in men and illuminate from a novel angle the possible aetiology of breast cancer in women.
2) Investigate the risk of breast cancer in female relatives of men with breast cancer, according (for the first time) to the genotype of the male cases, in order to provide more accurate risk estimates for women who have men in their family with breast cancer.
3) Investigate the pathology of male breast cancers in order to compare the disease with that in females and to identify novel therapeutic targets.
Participants will be approached by their consultant or GP and asked if they would like to take part in the study. If so, they will then be contacted by the study team. The study will take 5 years to collect data and will include 1,000 cases and 1,000 controls aged 18-79, from whom comprehensive data will be obtained by personal interview using a detailed questionnaire. A blood sample will also be taken to assess hormonal and genetic factors which may influence breast cancer risk in men. For 150 cases, a pathology sample will also be obtained.
The study is a collaboration between Professor Anthony Swerdlow (The Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton Campus) and Professor Alan Ashworth (Breakthrough Research Centre).
Contact
Email: Professor Anthony Swerdlow
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8722 4012
Fax: +44 (0)20 8722 4019
Email: Professor Alan Ashworth (Lynda.Kenison@icr.ac.uk)
Tel: +44 (0)20 7153 5333
Fax: +44 (0)20 7153 5340
