Men Can Get Breast
Cancer, Too
Cases are rare, but males
need to know it can happen
Michael Samuelson almost
died from a disease he did not even realize he could get—breast
cancer.
"A lot of men don't know
they have breasts," says Samuelson, a 54-year-old health educator
who lives in Ann Arbor, Mich. "They think they have 'pecs.' They
think breast cancer is a woman's disease."
Breast
Cancer In Men Is Very Real
But men can and do get
breast cancer. About 1,500 cases of breast cancer in males will
be diagnosed in the United States this year, and 400 men will die
of the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.
While death rates for
women have dropped in the last 20 years, the death rate for men
has remained steady.
A big part of the reason
why is that breast cancer in men is often diagnosed at a later stage,
after the disease has metastasized—or spread—to other
parts of the body.
Women have greatly benefited
from massive public education campaigns urging them to get regular
breast screenings and mammograms after age 40, says Debbie Saslow,
director of breast and cervical cancer for the American
Cancer Society.
But men do not do breast
self-examinations, they do not get mammograms, and physicians
do not routinely look for signs of breast cancer in men because
it is so rare, Saslow says.
"Most people think of
breast cancer as affecting only women," Saslow says. "It does affect
diagnosis because men and [healthcare] providers are less likely
to be looking for symptoms. And for some men, embarrassment can
be a factor."
Additional
Research Into Male Breast Cancer Is Needed
Little research has been
done involving male breast cancer. Physicians do know, however,
that nearly all male breast cancers begin in the breast ducts, while
about 70 percent of breast cancer in women begins in the breast
ducts.
Until puberty, both boys
and girls have a small amount of breast tissue, consisting of a
few ducts located near the nipple. At puberty, a girl's ovaries
produce hormones that cause breast ducts to grow, and lobules, or
milk glands, to form at the ends of the ducts. In boys, male hormones
prevent further growth of breast tissue, but the ducts remain.
Samuelson very nearly
discovered his breast cancer too late. He went for a meeting with
his accountant and noticed the man looked pale and drawn.
Samuelson was shocked
when he found out the accountant had been diagnosed with breast
cancer.
Sitting in his car in
the parking lot after his appointment, Samuelson felt his own nipples,
just to be sure. He detected a hard lump under one nipple. He went
home and had his wife feel it, too.
Within a few days, a biopsy
confirmed the lump was cancer —and it was growing rapidly.
He had a radical mastectomy.
He was told by his physician the cancer had spread to his pectoral
muscles but had not reached his lymph nodes or other organs—good
news.
Since his breast cancer
was successfully treated three years ago, Samuelson has been traveling
to speaking engagements across the country. He has addressed men's
and women's groups, trying to increase awareness about the health
threat.
Other men with breast
cancer have told him about their reluctance to tell anyone they
had cancer of the breast.
"They think, if I'm a
macho man, how can I have that?" says Samuelson. "You take that
along with the male psyche that says, 'I don't want to talk about
these things. I don't want to admit anything is wrong,' and you
have a lot of men who are very much alone."
Samuelson recently founded
what could be the nation's only support group for men with breast
cancer and their families, called "A Touch Of Blue."
"I founded it because
when I was out there looking for information after my diagnosis,
everything was directed to women," he says. "But men are frightened.
They're angry. They simply want to find other men that they can
talk to about issues from masculinity to being embarrassed about
your mastectomy scar when you want to go to the gym."
Today, Samuelson is doing
well. He is training for a marathon. He climbed to base camp on
Mount Everest in Nepal and hiked across a glacier in Alaska.
"I did it to tell men
that you can certainly survive breast cancer," he says. "And for
guys who wonder about whether or not breast cancer has any relationship
to a guy's ability to do 'guy' things, this was to let them know
they still can."
The incidence of breast
cancer in men is too low to recommend that they get screened with
mammograms, Saslow says. While about 400 American men will die of
breast cancer this year, 40,000 women will die, according to the
American Cancer Society.
"Men should be aware that
breast cancer does occur in men even though it is very rare," Saslow
says. "If they feel a lump in the shower or through other routine
daily activity or notice any physical changes, such as the appearance
or discharge from the nipple, they should bring it to their doctor's
attention promptly."
Men who have close relatives
with breast cancer should be aware that they may be at increased
risk, Saslow adds.
Always consult your physician
for more information.
Online
Resources
(Our Organization is not
responsible for the content of Internet sites.)
American
Cancer Society
Angel
Care Breast Cancer Center
National
Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations
National
Breast Cancer Coalition
National
Cancer Institute
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December 2002
Breast
Cancer In Men Is Very Real
Additional
Research Into Male Breast Cancer Is Needed
Breast
Cancer Survivors Bare Their Chests
Online
Resources
In Other Breast Health
News:
Breast
Cancer Survivors Bare Their Chests
A group of female breast
cancer survivors from Seattle, Wash., are the pin-ups for a 2003
fund-raising calendar in which they bare their tops.
The 12 women—each
of whom has had either a mastectomy or a lumpectomy—range
in age from 35 to 70, and are volunteers for an organization called
the Angel Care Breast Cancer Center, CBS News reports.
Besides being a fund-raiser,
the project serves as a "celebration of their new bodies," as well
as an inspiration to other women who've been disfigured by the disease.
Diana Beaumont, the calendar's
Miss July, said, "One woman didn't have the strength to look at
her body. And she hadn't seen herself in a year. We need to do something
to give these women the strength to go on."
The calendar is called
"No Ordinary Angels."
Always consult your physician
for more information.
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