Men & Breast Cancer

Men and breast cancer do not have the high statistics as women and breast cancer, but they still have breast tissue—this means that breast cancer in men is still possible for men. Breast cancer is more common in women due to the higher number of lobules at the end of the ducts, with the amount of stroma increasing. Men's breast do have ducts, but not very many lobules—the ducts can have cancerous changes developing, but in women there are more breast cells and female hormones.

Breast cancer symptoms in men include lumps in the breast, swelling, any dimpling or puckering of the skin, retraction of the nipple, nipple discharge, or scaling of the skin of the nipple or breast area—all signs of breast cancer. Men usually ignore the early signs of breast cancer, mainly because they feel only women can get breast cancer.

Breast cancer in men celebrities have Richard Roundtree as one of its victims. He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993—because of this, he went first through a double mastectomy followed by the chemotherapy treatment. But famous or not, breast cancer in men is rare—but according to the latest research, it is not so rare that its mortality doesn't hit black men three times more than with white men. Men and breast cancer covers many areas, and here is demonstrated that race is a large player in the field of a man. Breast cancer and the question of "can men get breast cancer" really are closely connected, even though the numbers are less than with women.

Breast cancer and men are not as front-line as breast cancer and women, so for those who do get it, the symptoms are ignored, as it is not "typical." Men breast cancer symptoms are the same as women, so any men with breast cancer would probably ignore them—not thinking the breast cancer would affect men. Breast cancer t-shirts for men along with pictures of men with breast cancer should bring symptoms of breast cancer in men more out front for the public's awareness. A brother, father or son should not have to get breast cancer, going through chemotherapy or major surgery, in order for the world to see that they are just as apt to develop it as women do. By then it is too late to prevent anything radical for them, and possibly too late for survival, depending on the early or late diagnosis time. The world is full of information about breast cancer in women, but very little information is available for men with breast cancer—this is mainly because of the low numbers of male victims and little public information for the general masses.