The appearance of breast cancer in a man implies a greater hereditary risk than in women, according to the first data from the Spanish registry on this type of male tumors, which compiles clinical notes and biological samples from about 800 patients and is one of the most relevant in the world.
18% of male patients have a mutation in the hereditary risk genes BRCA1 and BRCA 2, a circumstance that occurs in 5-10% of cases in women, according to the National Registry of Breast Cancer in Men, promoted by the Geicam research group.
Men with this genetic alteration not only present a higher hereditary risk but also have several characteristics of worse prognosis, with a higher prevalence of disease with metastasis at the time of diagnosis and with progression-free survival data that suggest a more aggressive behavior of the tumor. .
However, despite the high hereditary factor in breast cancer in men, only one in four male patients undergoes genetic testing that attempts to identify the presence of mutations of the BCRA 1 and 2 genes that can be transmitted from parents. to children.
Detecting these alterations early is essential to be able to act from a preventive and therapeutic perspective, since there are specific treatments both complementary after surgery and in metastatic disease, explained medical oncologist Ander Urruticoechea, vice president of Geicam.
If the Spanish Registry reveals that only 24% of patients have received genetic counseling (the test is performed from a blood sample using molecular biology techniques with which DNA is analyzed), the international guidelines recommend that all Men with breast cancer “should be referred to a genetic counseling unit,” recalls Noelia Martínez Jáñez, an oncologist at the Ramón y Cajal hospital in Madrid.
Specialists consider that the Male Breast Cancer Registry (CMV), in which 60 hospitals have participated, makes Spain a key country in the research of this pathology. “It will offer us molecular information that will bear fruit over the years,” says Urruticoechea. In her opinion, collaboration with other registries, such as the European or North American ones, “will make it possible to validate molecular hypotheses to advance specific treatments and biomarkers, which represents great hope.”
The first data from the Spanish Registry have been presented at the 46th edition of the CMV symposium in San Antonio, Texas (USA). This disease has different entities in men and women, so its study and approach must be approached differently, although the pathology in men is difficult due to its low prevalence: one case in every 100 breast tumors.
According to Màrius Soler, president and founder of INVI, the first patient association in Spain, knowing the risks and symptoms is essential: “It is very important to know if you have a history to find out if you are a carrier of the BRCA1 or 2 gene, since “It is one of the notable risk factors.”
