How to know if your man has breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and the leading cause of cancer deaths among women but what most people do not know is that the disease does occur in men.

Whether male or female, everyone is born with some breast cells and tissue. Even though males do not develop milk-producing breasts, a man’s breast cells, and tissue can still develop cancer

Although it can occur at any age, less than one percent of breast cancer cases develop in men and only one in a thousand men will ever be diagnosed with breast cancer.

It's not clear what causes male breast cancer, according to Doctors, however, health practitioners say that male breast cancer occurs when some breast cells divide more rapidly than healthy cells do.

The accumulating cells form a tumor that may spread (metastasize) to nearby tissue, to the lymph nodes or to other parts of the body.

Also, men with a genetic predisposition to breast cancer are also at higher risk of getting prostate cancer at a younger age than usually diagnosed.

A 2018 Global Statistics Agency report cited that 11.6 percent cases of breast cancer-related issues were recorded last year, with 6.6 percent resulting in death.

Men carry a higher mortality than women do, primarily because awareness among men is less and they are less likely to assume a lump is breast cancer, which can cause a delay in seeking treatment.

Due to the low advocacy on breast cancer among men, however, men who do regular checkups have a good chance for a cure.

Below are some of the major signs and symptoms according to health website, mayoclinic.org, you can help your man look out for:

• A painless lump or thickening in your breast tissue • Changes to the skin covering your breast, such as dimpling, puckering, redness or scaling • Changes to your nipple, such as redness or scaling, or a nipple that begins to turn inward • Discharge from your nipple

In as much as the month of October has been set aside for women to raise further awareness on the dangers of breast cancer, ladies, encourage your men to also go for breast screening.

Again, survival rates and treatment for men with breast cancer are very similar to their female counterparts.

This is because researchers found that men waited about 19 months to seek medical care upon discovering initial symptoms.

Hence, early detection increases treatment options which often reduces the risk of your man dying from breast cancer.