The Magazine, June 6, 2002
Seeing and disbelieving
Misdiagnosis
can make male breast cancer a killer
By Arun Kristian Das
Though only about one in a hundred breast cancer victims is a man, the disease's rarity makes it dangerous. In men, it is often misdiagnosed or diagnosed late.
"It's an awareness issue," says Dr Rajiv Datta (see profile, "What every man should know"). Lack of awareness, that is, and not just among patients. He says many family doctors are not accustomed to seeing such symptoms in a male patient and might not even think to suspect breast cancer.
"Not knowing this could be cancer, people just ignore it," Datta says. "I have two or three male patients who've had these cancers. They walked around for months before they thought of [treating it]."
Part of the problem in treating male breast cancer, Datta says, is that there is not enough data to suggest any traits or major trends in ethnicity or geography unique to male sufferers. A clear factor, though, is genetics. The disease runs in the family, so if a man has any relatives who are breast cancer victims, he is at risk.
The National Cancer Institute states that other risk factors include radiation exposure, elevated levels of estrogen, abnormal enlargement of the breasts, and age -- it usually, though not exclusively, afflicts men over 60.
A man subject to any of these risk factors should perform frequent breast self-exams, just as a woman would, checking for lumps, abnormal skin coloring, and bleeding from the nipple, advises a WebMD.com article by The Cleveland Clinic.
Early detection and fast action are crucial, says Datta. Two years ago, Long Island resident James Cratty experienced symptoms that scared him into his doctor's office. Within two weeks, he was under Datta's knife. Cratty was lucky: the malignant tumor that had caused bleeding from his nipple was small and he didn't need subsequent chemotherapy or radiation.
Other patients (male and female) may require more elaborate procedures, according to WebMD, including combinations of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and hormone therapy.
The NCI says survival rates in men and women are comparable when the cancer is diagnosed at similar stages. But because the disease in men is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, Datta hopes to spread a word of warning to men and their physicians.
Now cancer-free and in good spirits, Cratty, 62, offers blunt advice to other men: "If you feel something, go to the doctor. Don't be the macho guy. Get it checked out."
Some of Cratty's friends and relatives couldn't believe his long-odds diagnosis. "You should play the lottery," they would tell him. Others might say he's already won.
For more information, consult South Nassau's Cancer Center (www.southnassau.org or 1-877-768-8462), the National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.gov or 1-800-422-6237), the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org or 1-800-227-2345), WebMD (www.webmd.com), and, most importantly, your own physician.
###