Although the public audience is more accustomed with reports regarding breast cancer in women, men are vulnerable to it also. A new study shows that breast cancer is rare in men, but the unfortunate truth is they don’t survive it as long as women do.
According to the American Cancer Society, apparently only 1 in 1,000 men are likely to develop breast cancer. The ratio for women is incredible: 1 in 8 women is likely to have to struggle with breast cancer. While for women, most times the treatment is effective and they can survive the breast cancer, men aren’t that fortunate.
A study that investigated breast cancer data in U.S. from 1998 to 2007, shows that men are having a hard time surviving the affliction. Researchers looked at 13,457 cancer breast patients and 1.4 million women patients to come to the conclusion that men are very late diagnosed with the said cancer.
Despite the fact that, in men, the breast tumors are larger than in women, so there are better chances for early detection, breast cancer still gets its toll. The reason why for men breast cancer is so deadly is partly because patients ignore symptoms that women immediately respond to.
Researchers presented their study on the brief during a meeting in Phoenix, where members of the American Society of Breast Surgeons had the opportunity to give their own insight. The result of the meeting was that this study should be a centerpiece of a men’s breast cancer campaign awareness.
Dr. Jon Greif, study author, said that “men with breast cancer don’t do as well as women with breast cancer, and there are opportunities to improve that”.
The trouble is that given the affliction’s rarity in men, routine screening is not exactly useful. The exact causes of the breast cancer in men aren’t too well known by scientists, but some of the causes that develop breast cancer in women seem to apply. Researchers counted heavy drinking, gene mutations, genetics and older age as risk factors.
One particular aspect about detecting breast cancer in men, is that the tumor is usually identified under or near a nipple. When coupled with nipple discharge or uneven and misshapen breasts, patients should get a check-up.
