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CASE REPORT article

Front. Oncol.

Sec. Breast Cancer

This article is part of the Research TopicRedefining Care: Integrating Surgical Innovations and Precision Medicine in Breast Cancer TreatmentView all 9 articles

Remarkable Response to CDK4/6 Inhibitor–Based Endocrine Therapy in HR+/HER2− Metastatic Male Breast Cancer with Visceral Crisis: A Case Report

Provisionally accepted
Jianfeng  LiuJianfeng LiuWei  ChenWei ChenJian  WangJian WangXiancheng  WangXiancheng Wang*
  • The Affiliated Weihai Second Municipal Hospital of Qingdao University, Weihai, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Male breast cancer (MBC) is rare, and visceral crisis is an exceptionally uncommon yet life-threatening presentation in this population. Although current guidelines recommend combination chemotherapy as first-line therapy for visceral crisis, responses are often inadequate, and evidence for alternative approaches in men is scarce. We report a case of HR+/HER2-metastatic MBC complicated by visceral crisis. Despite first-line chemotherapy, the patient showed swift clinical worsening accompanied by radiographic progression. In view of the lack of treatment response, a CDK4/6 inhibitor–based endocrine regimen was initiated, achieving substantial tumor regression and prolonged disease control. This case suggests that CDK4/6 inhibitor–based endocrine therapy can induce meaningful disease reversal even in visceral crisis and may be a feasible option for selected HR+/HER2− MBC patients after chemotherapy failure. Our case suggests that CDK4/6 inhibitor–based endocrine therapy may offer clinical benefit even in the setting of visceral crisis after chemotherapy failure, indicating that treatment sequencing in such scenarios may merit further consideration.

Keywords: CDK4/6 inhibitor, chemotherapy resistance, HR+/HER2-, Male breast cancer, visceral crisis

Received: 25 Nov 2025; Accepted: 10 Dec 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Chen, Wang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Xiancheng Wang

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