UPDATE - Issue 37 - Summer 2009
Breast reduction ops on the increase
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons recently revealed its figures for 2008. They showed a large increase in the number of breast reductions operations on men. In 2008, 323 gynaecomastia corrections were carried out by Association members, 44 per cent up on 2007, and 15 times as many as in 2003, when just 22 procedures were carried out.
The extent to which this increase is associated with the rise in hormone therapy use to treat prostate cancer and hence this most unwelcome side effect is unclear. NICE guidelines state that men starting long-term bicalutamide monotherapy should receive prophylactic radiotherapy to both breast buds within the first month of treatment. If these guidelines are being followed, we would hope the number of male gynocomastia corrections will fall.