The risk of breast cancer in men may be related to male infertility

A study published in the Open Access Journal suggests that the risk of invasive breast cancer in men may be related to infertility in a male partner. Breast cancer research. The authors surveyed 1998 men in England and Wales diagnosed with breast cancer, with 112 (5.6%) also reporting infertility and 383 (19.2%) having no children.

Breast cancer in men is less common than in women and its association with infertility to date studied only in small studies. Only one small study has suggested a possible link between men who give birth to children and breast cancer.

Authors from the Institute for Cancer Research (London, UK) investigated the potential relationship between self-inflicted infertility or the absence of children and the risk of breast cancer in men. Michael Jones and his colleagues surveyed 1998 men (under the age of 80) who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 2005 and 2017 and who lived in England and Wales. They were compared to 1,597 men as a control group who were not blood relatives. In the control group, 80 men reported infertility (5.0%).

The risk of invasive breast cancer tumors (cancer cells that spread beyond the site where they first formed) was significantly associated with male infertility, based on data from 47 individuals with breast cancer (2.6%) compared with 22 control groups without cancer, but with infertility reported on its own (1,4). %). The authors did not find a significant association between breast cancer risk and partner infertility or if the source of infertility was unknown.

In further studies, the authors observed a greater number of men with breast cancer (383 men) who had no children compared with the control group (174 men). However, the authors warn that the absence of children does not fully reflect male infertility, as men may not have children for a number of cultural and social reasons.

The associated risk of breast cancer with infertility or no children was not significant based on 160 individuals with in situ breast cancer tumors (cancer cells that did not spread beyond where they first formed) compared with 1,597 control groups.

Michael Jones, co-author, said: “Our data suggest that there may be a link between male infertility and invasive breast cancer in men.”

The authors conducted additional susceptibility analysis to monitor alcohol consumption, smoking, family history of breast cancer, and liver disease, in the case of potential confusion, but found no strong evidence that these factors influenced the results. The authors did not control obesity, but excluded data from some analyzes of 11 men with Klinefelter’s syndrome, nine with previous cancer, 29 males who were severely obese and 169 with testicular disease. Three people born to a woman were not included in any of the analyzes.

The authors warn that fertility self-assessment has the potential for misclassification because fertility is a complex process that can involve both male and female factors. Men cannot report children out of wedlock or those they may not know about, or they may remain childless by choice. The authors suggest that infertility testing with medical records, although impractical in this study, may reduce the bias of memories in future studies.

Michael Jones added: “The causes of breast cancer in men are largely unknown, in part because it is rare and in part because previous studies have been small. The data presented in our study suggest a link between infertility and breast cancer should be confirmed by additional studies, and future studies of potential underlying factors such as hormonal imbalance are needed. ”