Breast Cancer In Men Is Rare But Real
Breast Cancer Survival Rates Are Virtually The Same For Men And Women If Their Cancer Stages Are The Same
IMS Observations
Although male breast cancer only accounts for 1 percent of all cancers, it is a very real and potentially deadly disease in men. We urge men with symptoms to seek medical attention sooner rather than later. As the story indicates ìEarlier detection made the difference for Fred Gross. Remember, Infrared Mammography offers the earliest possible detection of breast cancer in both men and women, up to 8 years before X-Ray Mammograms.
The Dallas Morning News - April 7, 2009
By Harriet P. Gross
"How did I get so 'lucky' ?" That was my husband's first wry comment when he was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.
Fred Gross was Dr. Walton Taylor's fifth male breast cancer patient. Men account for just 1 percent of all breast cancers .
I'm a two-time survivor myself. Although my cancers showed up in the more usual, lump-detection way, I wasn't surprised; Fred's left nipple had become discolored and hard, virtually overnight. Our primary care physician, a man of few words, took one look, said "breast cancer," and wrote out a surgeon referral.
We (because breast cancer is always a family matter) were lucky here. The surgeon Fred was referred to, Dr. Walton Taylor, in practice at Medical City Dallas since 2000, is also breast specialist for the Medical Edge group of 200 surgeons nationwide. Fred was his fifth male breast cancer patient & more than most doctors will see in a lifetime.
Men account for just 1 percent of all breast cancers & a lot less than one in a million, which is how Fred first felt. But breast cancer strikes only eight Caucasian men, and 14 African-American men, per million in the entire U.S. population, so he was close on that. And when it's found in men, it's usually more advanced than in women.
Even when they can feel or see something, "men ignore it for a long time," Taylor says. "They blow it off. They never think it can happen to us." Sometimes even medical professionals miss male breast cancer altogether.
David Weber of Dallas was finally diagnosed in January 2001. He'd bared a reddened, enlarged nipple to a parade of doctors for 11 long years; all passed his symptoms off as nothing. But when he got engaged, he consulted a new dermatologist to ease nagging concerns. Finally, biopsies identified cancer in both breasts, requiring extensive surgeries. (Now he's checked yearly by his surgeon, and he will continue that routine for the rest of his life.)
Fred was indeed luckier. His tumor hadn't adhered to or infiltrated the chest wall beneath. He has developed mild lymphedema (an arm and hand swelling due to removal of the underarm nodes, which must be tested to determine if cancer cells have traveled from breast to the lymph system). Earlier detection made the difference.
Medicinenet.com says breast cancer survival rates are virtually the same for men and women if their cancer stages are the same. But much better screening for women means most male cancers are already more advanced by the time they're detected. Men's overall five-year survival rate tops out at 85 percent, depending on tumor size and status, while women's goes up to 100 percent for earliest-stage tumors. Weber, an optometrist now pushing eight years as a survivor, has become an outspoken advocate for early male breast cancer detection: "Statistics are one thing," he says. "Reality is another." Of his doctor, Michael Grant, he says, "A good person to know but not so good to have to see him" as a patient.
A doctor should first do a hands-on search of the breasts; since many masses are painless, anything that's in the least suspicious should be further tested with fine-needle aspiration, to identify the presence of cancer cells. If this proves inconclusive, surgical biopsy is warranted. Taylor recommends ultrasound exams for any mass that can be seen or felt. Because of male breast cancer rarity, no guidelines for mammography exist at this time, according to the Web site Emedicine.com.
A history of breast cancer in both male and female blood relatives is common among the males diagnosed, so Taylor is also a proponent of genetic testing for every man with breast cancer. Genes increasing the likelihood of breast cancer in certain ethnic groups have already been identified; sons and other close kin of men who carry these genes will know their increased risk and can be more vigilant about exams for earliest detection.
Treatment options vary; sometimes there are tough choices to make. Weber, 45 at the time his cancer was detected (the median male age is 67), got the full range: surgery followed by systemic chemotherapy, radiation and oral chemo. The latter is often Tamoxifen, prescribed for women with estrogen-receptive tumors; surprisingly, these receptors are even more common in men; 75 percent to 94 percent of male breast cancer patients test positive for them.
My husband is at a much more advanced age (Fred is 78, and chemotherapy is much harder on an older body), but his cancer had been detected earlier than Weber's. So he was offered and accepted the option to decline heavy-duty chemo, settling for radiation and oral chemo follow-up. He made this decision after consultation with several medical oncologists. Taylor says at least one additional opinion should be sought by every male with breast cancer after initial diagnosis: "If your doctor says 'no,' find another doctor."
My husband recently completed the first half of his six-week course of daily (weekdays) radiation treatments. David Weber's wife, Angela, was diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer at the same time as David; the two were married on April Fools' Day 2002 and are now parents of a son, despite the belief of many professionals that conception may be dangerous or even impossible after breast cancer treatments.
Source Link
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/lifetravel/stories/DN-nh_malebreastcancer_0407gd.ART.State.Edition1.2e76c2f.html
