Observational cohort study of mortality risk over 20 years in men with stage I to III hormone receptor-positive breast cancer

In women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer (HR+ BC), the risk of distant recurrence and death persists for at least 20 years from diagnosis. The risk of late mortality in men has not been reported. An observational cohort study using data from the SEER database included 2836 men with stage I to III HR+ BC. The cumulative 20-year risk of breast cancer-specific mortality (BCSM) was 12.4% for stage I, 26.2% for stage II, and 46.0% for stage III. Smoothed annual hazard estimates for BCSM revealed an increase in late hazard rates with each incremental node category, reaching a bimodal distribution in N3 and stage III. The authors conclude that the risk of BCSM at 20 years is high in men with HR+ BC, and the kinetics appear to be different from those in women.