Breast cancer is more prevalent in women, but men can develop breast cancer, too. Men have breast tissue and they can develop breast cancer just like women. Cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancer and can spread to other areas. Breast cancer starts when one cell doesn’t replicate correctly and begins to grow out of control. These cells usually form a tumor that can be seen on an x-ray or felt as a lump. The tumor is malignant if the cells grow and invade surrounding tissues or metastasize to other areas of the body.
During puberty both young males and females have a small amount of breast tissue consisting of a few ducts located under the nipple and areola, which is the area around the nipple. At puberty, a female’s ovaries make female hormones, causing their breast ducts to grow and lobules to form at the ends of ducts. Even after puberty, males normally have low levels of female hormones preventing breast tissue from growing. A man’s breasts have ducts, but only a few if any lobules. [Read more…]