Bilateral breast cancer in a male patient with hepatocellular carcinoma. A case report

Abstract

Male breast cancer accounts for about 1% of all breast cancers* and bilateral breast cancer in men is therefore a rare event*. Data in literature indicate that approximately 20% of these tumours are due to a probable alteration in the oestrogen metabolism*.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on the other hand, is a much more frequent tumour and in 70-80% of cases is associated with cirrhosis. The proven concomitance of cirrhosis and gynecomastia in HCC or previous intake of oestrogen in breast cancer, would indicate possible involvement of the hormonal metabolism in the appearance of the two neoplastic forms. To our knowledge a case with these two malignant diseases in the same male patient is an exceptional event, rarely reported in literature.

The fact that the breast cancer was bilateral in a male patient, the diverse histogenesis of the two breast cancers and the association with HCC in cirrhosis, led us to investigate into any common eziopathogenetic elements.