OBJECTIVE We aimed to describe the differences in clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival (OS) between male and female breast cancer patients, and to develop a prognostic nomogram to predict survival in patients with male breast cancer (MBC). METHODS Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, we compared age, race, histological type, histological grade, tumor size, lymph node status, metastases, estrogen/progesterone receptor (ER/PR) and HER-2 status between male and female patients, and analyzed their relationships with OS. We established a nomogram and produced a calibration curve to observe its predictive effect. RESULTS Age, race, T stage, N stage, bone and lung metastases, and histological type and grade differed between male and female patients. OS in male patients was related to age, tumor size, metastatic site, ER/PR status, and histological grade, but not to race or lymph node status. A nomogram was established, which showed good predictive performance for survival in MBC patients (area under the curve = 0.7). CONCLUSIONS MBC has a worse prognosis than female breast cancer, mainly characterized by late onset age, late staging, high proportion of invasive non-specific histological types, high histological grade, and luminal breast cancer.