Infertile men may be twice as likely to develop breast cancer, study suggests

One of the largest ever studies of breast cancer shows that infertile men are more likely to get the disease.

Breast cancer in males is less common than in females, and its relation to infertility was only investigated in small studies. The journal Breast Cancer Research published the new research.

The Institute of Cancer Research, London said the findings indicated further work was needed to understand the underlying causes of male breast cancer.

The study suggests that infertility is linked to breast cancer in men.

There is a need to investigate the role of male fertility hormones on the risk of breast cancer in men. We hope that this will lead to insights into the underlying causes of male and female breast cancer.

The Breast Cancer Now male breast cancer study looked at 1,998 men who were newly diagnosed with breast cancer in England and Wales over a 12-year period. One of the largest studies on male breast cancer has been done.

Because male breast cancer is rare in the UK, research into the disease is usually limited to a small number of patients. The team was able to show a statistically significant association between infertility and risk of male breast cancer by studying a larger group of men.

The men were asked if they or their partners had ever experienced fertility problems, if they had ever visited a doctor for fertility concerns, or if they had biological children.

The fertility of men with breast cancer was compared to that of men without a history of the disease. They found that men with breast cancer were more likely to have fertility issues.

Men with no children were more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer.

The director of research, support and influencing at Breast Cancer Now said that many people don't realize that men can get breast cancer. Around 80 men die from breast cancer in the UK every year, and we need to support them.

It is a step towards understanding male breast cancer and how we could find more ways to diagnose and treat it.