Male breast cancer cases on the rise

Male breast cancer cases on the rise

October is breast cancer awareness month and most of us have always been under the impression that breast cancer is a female-centric disease. However, the American Cancer Society approximates that in 2005, nearly 1,690 cases of male breast cancer are likely to be detected in the US and over 450 will succumb to this deadly illness.

While it is true that breast cancer is 100 times more likely to strike a woman than a man, the figures of the latter sex falling prey to this disease is undoubtedly creeping up. But since this ailment is comparatively uncommon in men, the diagnosis of the disease is often delayed which proves to be fatal in the end.

The case of John Nick from Vero Beach, Fla is an apt example. John passed away in 1991 due to breast cancer. Back in those days, there was hardly any awareness regarding male breast cancer and by the time it was detected, it was a matter of too little too late. In spite of chemotherapy treatment for six months, his life couldn't be saved.

Such ignorance is what leads Dr. Sharon H. Giordano, assistant professor in the Department of Medical Oncology at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, into saying that more men will die of this disease. Dr. Sharon belongs to the minute section of medical professionals involved in research on male breast cancer.

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Ironically, tumors in men are much simpler to sense compared to women and even so, they are detected at a much later stage. Says Giordano, "if they pick up the disease early, men are more likely to be cured."

Also, the treatment for breast cancer in men is the same as the one used for women- mastectomy, chemotherapy and if needed even radiation. And so Giordano feels understanding more about breast cancer in men could benefit women patients too.

Not only that, even the risk elements leading to cancer in both sexes is the same; aging, heavy alcohol consumption, obesity et al. Then again, medical study has not proved the exact relation between the above-mentioned risk factors and breast cancer.

It has been generally believed that heredity causes could also lead to breast cancer. But of late, it has been found that even they are not as big a cause as thought before. However, Debbie Saslow, director of breast and gynecological cancer at the American Cancer Society, feels though breast cancer is not hereditary, it's more liable to be hereditary in men compared to women stating that only 10 percent of women with breast cancer have a breast cancer gene.

Further, majority of male patients have estrogen receptors, which means the reappearance of breast cancer is more likely in them compared to females as only 70 percent of women are estrogen-receptor positive.