Adult males with naturally high levels of the female hormone estrogen are at a greater risk for breast cancer than other men, according to researchers.

Scientists have discovered that males with superior estrogen levels were two-and-a-half times more probable to be diagnosed with breast cancer compared with those with the least levels.

Approximately 350-400 new instances of breast cancer in men are being identified in the UK yearly, though breast cancer is a disease usually linked with women. About 50,000 English women have been developing breast cancer annually, making it a major female disease, but not exclusively.

This new research compared the estrogen levels in 101 male subjects who were later diagnosed with breast cancer and 217 fit adult men.

This has been the initial study about estrogen circulating in the blood of men and how it is positively related to male breast cancer, even though there is already an established link existing between the sex hormone and uterine, ovarian and breast cancers in women.

"We've shown for the first time that just like some forms of the cancer in women, estrogen has a big role to play in male breast cancer," Professor Tim Key, Cancer Research UK's hormone and nutrition expert at Oxford University and lead researcher, said.

The next challenge would be to learn more how estrogen is triggering male breast cancer, and how come some men have naturally greater levels of estrogen in their blood, according to the scientist. Their discovery would further enhance their existing knowledge of curing breast cancer in men.

As of the moment, the researchers note that the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer are the same for both women and men. Age has been the biggest risk factor for male patients, with nearly eight out of 10 instances being recorded in patients at least 60 years old.

"Breast cancer in men isn't discussed very often, so a diagnosis can be a big shock for the small group of men who develop the disease," Dr. Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK's head of health information, added. She noted that though estrogen hormones may vary naturally in men, it could also be medically connected to being overweight. She advises that keeping a healthy weight could bring down the level of estrogen in both women and men as fat cells are known culprits for increasing the levels of the hormone.

The research on men with higher estrogen levels having greater risk of breast cancer is published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Photo: speedoglyn1 | Flickr