Men & Breast Cancer
Breast cancer in men is rare, but is possible. After all, they too have breasts. Theirs though, consist of minute amounts of nonfunctional breast tissue. That is, these are not capable of producing milk. But as with the breast cancer that inflicts women, breast cancer in men are also caused by abnormal cell growth in the breast tissue.
Men and breast cancer is such a rare pair that it only accounts for a mere one percent of the total breast cancer cases. The American Cancer Society revealed that there are around 1690 men with breast cancer diagnosed in the year 2005, which resulted in approximately 460 deaths, compared to the more than 40,000 deaths in women every year.
The men and breast cancer tandem is 100 less probable than the women and breast cancer pair. And although most men who are diagnosed with the disease are those who are 60 to 70 years old, breast cancer can still inflict men of younger age.
Like the cancer found in female breasts, the cause of breast cancer in men has not really been fully determined. However, the breast cancer in both genders single out environmental influences, as well as genetic susceptibility as factors that trigger its development.
Exposure to radiation has been closely linked to the increased risk of breast cancer in men. Men who have had radiation therapy for malignancy treatment are more likely to get breast cancer than those who have not been exposed to the therapy.
Normally, men produce little amounts of estrogen, a female hormone. However, there are men who have certain medical conditions which make their estrogen-production soar. High estrogen levels can result in the elevated breast cancer risk in men.
Numerous epidemiologic studies found out that men whose female relatives are inflicted with breast cancer are at an increased risk of getting the disease. Studies stressed that the males who have inherited faulty BRCA2 gene are about 80 times more likely to develop breast cancer. BRCA2 mutation accounts for around 15% of the total number of breast cancer in men.
Although breast cancer in men and that in women are alike in several ways, some vital differences affect early detection of the disease. The most visible difference between the breasts of both genders is size. Because men have smaller breasts, they breast tissues are small as well. This fact makes it easier for men and their doctors to check for lumps. However, since their breast tissues are small, cancer cells do not require intensive growth for it to reach the muscles under the breast or the skin that covers it.
The most common breast cancer symptoms in men include lumps or mass found just underneath the nipple. The lump, although firm, is not painful. At the early stages, the lump has a diameter of around 2.5 centimeters. The breast cancer in men is also likely to exhibit changes in skin appearance around the nipple area. Such changes are dimpling or puckering, skin ulceration, inverted nipple, nipple scaling, and certain nipple discharge which is not milk. The symptoms may vary according to the severity of the disease.
Because men and breast cancer is very uncommon, screening mammography in men is rare too. However, along with other breast examination, mammography may be undergone by men who belong to families with strong history of the disease, as well as BRCA mutations.
As with the women’s breast cancer, that of men also have various types, stages of severity, and the corresponding treatments for each stage. But since breast cancer is mostly associated with women, early detection of the disease in men is usually hard to achieve. But if men are open to various preventive measures and early detection methods, breast cancer in men may likely become a thing of the past.