Correspondence:
Elias A.Sarru' MD, MS, AAFP, ABFP
Al Hasa Primary Care Services Division
Al Hasa Medical Center
Saudi Aramco Medical Services Organization
31311,Udhailiyah Box 6650,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Tel: 966-3-5772011, Fax: 966-3-5772008
E-mail: sarruea@hotmail.com, sarruea4@yahoo.com

Key words
Breast carcinoma, male, Saudi population, clinical presentation, diagnostic and therapeutic modalities.

Abstract
Male breast cancer is rare. It accounts for 0.2% of all cancers, and 1% of all breast cancers.

Most patients present late for several reasons, including the absence of early signs and symptoms, and reduced awareness of the existence of such pathology among patients and physicians. Reporting this case from among the Saudi population, we tried to observe any differences in clinical manifestation from those reported in the literature, and aimed to increase the value assigned to male breast as a source of pathology among patients and physicians as well.

Introduction
The epidemiology of male breast carcinoma in the Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia and the region is not known. However, it accounts for less than 0.1% of male cancers worldwide, and usually presents late in life at a more advanced stage.Risk factors have been basically attributed to old age, genetic, endocrine factors or exposure to radiation or female hormones.Decreased awareness of the existence of such a disease among male patients and physicians leads to its late presentation, when the majority of cases are invasive with distant metastasis and subsequently carry poorer prognoses. Specific mammographic characteristics of male breast cancer do exist, yet fine needle aspiration and surgical biopsy confirm the diagnosis and delineate the proper treatment modalities.Treatment modalities depend on the stage of the disease at presentation.