Breast cancer is predominately a female condition, but does occur in males. It can strike a male at any age, but it is usually detected in men between 60 and 70 years of age. Male breast cancer diagnoses are less than 1% of all cases of breast cancer. It is for this reason, women being 99% of all the cases of breast cancer, that the awareness symbolism is a pink ribbon.
In the very recent past, a male with breast cancer was unheard of. It may have been too embarrassing for males to admit they had a female disease, or they may have ignored the cancer symptoms until the cancer metastasized. It is very probable males did not fathom breast cancer could happen to them, which led to a delayed assessment resulting in an advanced stage before treatment began.
What are the key statistics about breast cancer in men?
The most recent American Cancer Society estimates for male breast cancer in the United States are for 2010:
- About 1,970 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among men
- About 390 men will die from breast cancer
Breast cancer is about 100 times less common among men than among women. For men, the lifetime risk of getting breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000. The number of breast cancer cases in men relative to the population has been fairly stable over the last 30 years.
The prognosis (outlook) for men with breast cancer was once thought to be worse than that for women, but recent studies have not found this to be true. In fact, men and women with the same stage of breast cancer have a fairly similar outlook for survival.
Gender barriers and biases influence our thoughts, which does an injustice to males with breast cancer. Statistically, it is the male who becomes the caretaker of a victim of breast cancer, but when it happens to a male, do we ‘think differently’? Male victims need our support and understanding, along with the female victims.
How would you feel if ‘you’ were that male?
- In•tra•per•son•al - occurring within the individual mind or self
- Intrapersonal awareness is being attentive to your own thoughts, thinking patterns, needs, and desires.
- Intrapersonal intelligence is the understanding of oneself which creates a positive, productive lifestyle.
Comments
What a great awareness article. I had a friend whose dad had breast cancer. Which was a complete surprise to many of us that males can get breast cancer, but now that we know, we are not so jaded.
So sorry to hear about your friend's dad. My brother had breast cancer, caught early. Not all are so lucky.
What a great awareness article. I had a friend whose dad had breast cancer. Which was a complete surprise to many of us that males can get breast cancer, but now that we know, we are not so jaded.
I was aware of this - just one more thing right? Great article.
Great article.
Great awareness article to help spread the word to men that they also need to be careful of breast cancer as well and it is not just a "female" disease.
I had no idea men could have breast cancer.. thanks for such an informative article Fran.
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