Breast cancer equally deadly in males, too

Breast cancer - often regarded as a female illness - can strike women and men alike, and is equally deadly for either gender.

Breast cancer is the exact same condition in both sexes and affects both in the same way, though it is far rarer in men than women, said Dr. Joseph Pearson, a McLeod Regional Medical Center surgeon who treats breast cancer in men and women. He also serves as the cancer liaison physician for McLeod to the American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer.

Physicians once thought about one out of every 100 instances of breast cancer occurred in men, but now the consensus is the condition is even rarer, with men accounting for one out of every 150 to 200 cases of breast cancer, Pearson said.

"It's pretty unusual," he said. "The average onset age of breast cancer (in men) is about 10 years older than the onset age in women."

Breast cancer occurs most often in men age 65 and older, compared with age 55 for most women, Pearson said.

"It's a time when the natural male hormones are on the wane, but there's no reason specifically for men getting breast cancer. There's not an identifiable reason," he said.

As in women, breast cancer presents as a lump in the breast that can usually be felt before it is seen. In men, the lump usually occurs just underneath the nipple and is easier to detect during a physical exam because men have much less breast tissue, Pearson said.

There is no evidence that men are less likely to seek treatment after a breast cancer diagnosis solely because of embarrassment, Pearson said.

But men are less likely to bring any of their medical concerns to a doctor's attention, he said.

"Even if it's something like chest pain, men will just try to tough it out," Pearson said. "Ninety percent of women, however, will be in the doctor's office as soon as they can get an appointment.

"From a public health standpoint, (a man) needs to understand that if he has a lump in his breast, then there's a possibility that lump is cancerous," he said. "I'm afraid most men don't have a clue they can get breast cancer."

There is no effective way to prescreen men for breast cancer because they don't have enough breast tissue to warrant a mammogram.

"The best screening is when a man goes for an annual physical exam," Pearson said.

If breast cancer is suspected in a man, then an oncologist will most likely do a needle biopsy, he said.

Most doctors will not use chemotherapy to treat breast cancer in men because breast conservation isn't really a concern with them, Pearson said.

"Most men have no motivation to save whatever breast they have," he said. "Most are treated with a mastectomy."

Just like women, men with breast cancer can pass the gene on to their children, Pearson said.

Though breast cancer in men is rare, there is a condition called gynecomastia that occurs is men and can be mistaken for a cancerous mass. Gynecomastia causes rubbery lumps in the breasts of teenage boys and men older than 60, Pearson said.

Though occurrences of breast cancer in men are rare, men - especially those older than 65 - should make an effort to educate themselves about the condition, he said.

- Staff writer Jamie Rogers can be reached at (843) 317-7266. Comment on this story at www.scnow.com.