Men too get breast cancer
Mar 14, 2006
MANY men are unaware that they can be affected by breast cancer and they are dying needlessly from it because they are unaware of the symptoms, an expert on the disease says.
MANY men are unaware that they can be affected by breast cancer and they are dying needlessly from it because they are unaware of the symptoms, an expert on the disease says.
Cancerous cells can develop in the small amount of breast tissue that men have behind their nipples.
Professor Ian Fentiman of Guy Hospital in the UK, says around 250 men are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK annually, with 70 dying from it. But half of male patients are not diagnosed until their cancer is very advanced, he writes in an article for the Lancet.
Breast cancer among men remains a tiny risk, but it is a growing one. Between 1973 and 1998, the number of US cases climbed 26%, according to a study of more than 2,500 American men with the disease, published in the online version of Cancer, the American Cancer Society’s journal.
Symptoms
Common signs are a painless lump in the chest, breast area or an inwardly turned nipple.
Other signs may include a change in the size or shape of the breast and a discharge coming from the nipple.
Dr Paul Semugoma, a medical officer at International Medical Centre, says in Uganda, men are 100 times less likely to develop breast cancer than women. Semugoma says it is rare that in the last 10 years, he has witnessed only three cases of breast cancer in men.
Fentiman says if diagnosed early enough, a man with breast cancer has between 75 percent — 100 percent chances of making a full recovery, but this can drop to as low as 30% for men with very advanced disease.
He explained that treatment for male breast cancer was as effective as it was for female breast cancer, provided it was picked up early enough.
Risk factors
The cause of breast cancer in men is not completely understood, but some men seem to be at higher than average risk of developing the disease.
Obesity may be the culprit in both sexes, researchers say, noting that breast cancer has risen for men without the most common reasons for the rise of female breast cancer, such as the use of post-menopausal hormones such as estrogen.
Fat tissue produces estrogen, increased levels of which can lead to breast cancer, says Michael Thun, the epidemiology chief at the Atlanta-based cancer society. Breast cancer also commonly occurs in men over the age of 60.
Men who have the disease usually discover the disease later than women, when the tumours are larger and the cancer has spread, according to findings from the largest-ever study of male breast cancer. Breast cancer is also common in men who have several close members of their family — male or female who have had breast cancer, or a relative diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 40. Having several members of the family with cancer of the ovary may increase a man’s risk of developing breast cancer.
Treatment
Because breast cancer in men behaves in a similar way to breast cancer in women, it is usually treated in much the same way. For most men, surgery is the first choice of treatment.
However, unlike women whose lump is removed, men are likely to have some or all of the lymph nodes under the arm removed.
Hormonal therapy is very effective in reducing the amount of female hormones — oestrogen — in the body. It is used to prevent the cancer from returning after surgery.
Additional reporting by
Timothy Makhoka
Cancerous cells can develop in the small amount of breast tissue that men have behind their nipples.
Professor Ian Fentiman of Guy Hospital in the UK, says around 250 men are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK annually, with 70 dying from it. But half of male patients are not diagnosed until their cancer is very advanced, he writes in an article for the Lancet.
Breast cancer among men remains a tiny risk, but it is a growing one. Between 1973 and 1998, the number of US cases climbed 26%, according to a study of more than 2,500 American men with the disease, published in the online version of Cancer, the American Cancer Society’s journal.
Symptoms
Common signs are a painless lump in the chest, breast area or an inwardly turned nipple.
Other signs may include a change in the size or shape of the breast and a discharge coming from the nipple.
Dr Paul Semugoma, a medical officer at International Medical Centre, says in Uganda, men are 100 times less likely to develop breast cancer than women. Semugoma says it is rare that in the last 10 years, he has witnessed only three cases of breast cancer in men.
Fentiman says if diagnosed early enough, a man with breast cancer has between 75 percent — 100 percent chances of making a full recovery, but this can drop to as low as 30% for men with very advanced disease.
He explained that treatment for male breast cancer was as effective as it was for female breast cancer, provided it was picked up early enough.
Risk factors
The cause of breast cancer in men is not completely understood, but some men seem to be at higher than average risk of developing the disease.
Obesity may be the culprit in both sexes, researchers say, noting that breast cancer has risen for men without the most common reasons for the rise of female breast cancer, such as the use of post-menopausal hormones such as estrogen.
Fat tissue produces estrogen, increased levels of which can lead to breast cancer, says Michael Thun, the epidemiology chief at the Atlanta-based cancer society. Breast cancer also commonly occurs in men over the age of 60.
Men who have the disease usually discover the disease later than women, when the tumours are larger and the cancer has spread, according to findings from the largest-ever study of male breast cancer. Breast cancer is also common in men who have several close members of their family — male or female who have had breast cancer, or a relative diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 40. Having several members of the family with cancer of the ovary may increase a man’s risk of developing breast cancer.
Treatment
Because breast cancer in men behaves in a similar way to breast cancer in women, it is usually treated in much the same way. For most men, surgery is the first choice of treatment.
However, unlike women whose lump is removed, men are likely to have some or all of the lymph nodes under the arm removed.
Hormonal therapy is very effective in reducing the amount of female hormones — oestrogen — in the body. It is used to prevent the cancer from returning after surgery.
Additional reporting by
Timothy Makhoka