Male breast lump. 23 years old. - 1293780

andrew23
Posts:4

I am a 23 year old male. I had a mammogram done which read Bi-Rad 4. I am going to be having it removed and also going to have surgery by laser to remove the lump and biopsy the lump and remove the excess enlarged breast tissue from both breasts. What are the chances of a 23 year old male having breast cancer?

Thanks,
Andrew

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JimC
Posts: 2753

Hi Andrew,

Welcome to GRACE. I'm sorry to hear that you are dealing with these concerns. Breast cancer in males is rare, making up about 1% of all breast cancer cases, and men tend to be diagnosed at an older age than women (the average age is 67). So as a twenty-five year old male, your chances are very small. That being said, it's good that you are following up on the test findings, as there are unusual cases on record.

I hope that you get encouraging results and you can put this behind you soon.

JimC
Forum moderator

andrew23
Posts: 4

Thank you Jim. I have the procedure done next week. I will keep you updated. I appreciate the encouraging message you sent me.

Sincerely..........Andrew.

andrew23
Posts: 4

Good morning. Just got the pathology report. It is Gynecomastia. How come they gave me a Rad 4 rating on the mammogram and ultrasound?

catdander
Posts:

That's great news Andrew. Congratulations!

The bi rads system is a self monitoring system for radiologists so you'd need to refer back to your doctor or radiologist. But it just means that the findings were worrisome enough to take a closer look but most of the 4 ratings aren't cancer. The bi rads gives the radiologist a chance to look back a the ratings and see where those people ended up. If around 30% of her 4 ratings ended up with a cancer diagnosis then she would be right on target.

All best,
Janine

andrew23
Posts: 4

Well I needed to have the lump removed anyway. They called it a partial mastectomy. The doctor who did the surgery said that the specimen looked benign. I went to NY to have the laser surgery by the only doctor who does this type of surgery on the breasts in the country. My insurance would not have paid for it since they consider the operation cosmetic. I had alot of pain in my one breast so I am glad it was removed. Had the surgery on Monday (outpatient) and went back to my hometown on Wednesday - minimal pain after surgery - just took a couple of aleve. Thank you so much for your input Janine.

Doctor said it probably was from a hormone inbalance and at 23 I should not get the gynecomastia again. It was only in one breast too.

Sincerely,
Andrew