MAMMOGRAPHY IN MEN

PURPOSE: To evaluate mammographic findings in men with abnormality of the breast. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The most common indications for mammography, performed in 263 men (mean age, 62 years; range, 19-93 years), were breast tenderness in 88 men (33%) and palpable mass in 79 men (30%). All chief symptoms and all mammographic findings were categorized. Biopsy results were correlated with mammographic findings in 24 patients. Follow-up ranged from 6 months to 8 years 4 months (mean, 3 years 4 months). RESULTS: The most common mammographic finding was gynecomastia in 213 men (81%). Gynecomastia was unilateral or asymmetric in 168 men (72%). Biopsy results in 14 patients with gynecomastia were negative for cancer; the 199 other patients did not have cancer at follow-up. Six patients had breast cancer: Four had primary breast cancer, and two had metastases to the breast from extramammary malignancies. No cancer had the mammographic appearance of gynecomastia. None of the 43 patients younger than age 50 years had cancer. CONCLUSION: A man younger than age 50 years with diffuse breast enlargement or a palpable, nonindurated, central, subareolar mass need not undergo mammography unless there are other strong clinical indications.