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Breast cancer cases among men on the rise

Jenna Esarey
The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal
Hugh and Kim Campbell attend September's 11th Annual Pink Tie Ball at the Seelbach Hilton Hotel. Hugh Campbell was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — From ubiquitous pink ribbons to blithe pleas to save the ta-tas, most people have heard of breast cancer and its effects on women. But what of the men?

Although it's much more rare, men are also susceptible to breast cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that around 2,350 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in 2015, compared with 231,840 in women. An estimated 440 men will die of breast cancer this year.

“It’s relatively unusual. Way more unusual than a female who gets breast cancer,” said Lynda Weeks, executive director of Susan G. Komen Louisville, part of the largest breast cancer research, education and advocacy organization in the country. “The figure is approximately one in 1,000, so it’s far less than females, but typically men are diagnosed at a later stage.”

Dr. Janell Seeger, a medical oncologist with the Norton Cancer Institute, said that although male breast cancer cases remain rare, “the number is increasing.” Reports show an increase of “up to 26% over the last 25 years,” in diagnosed cases.

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Hugh Campbell, 54, of Louisville is one of those rare cases. Campbell was well aware of the dangers of breast cancer and started volunteering with Komen in 1997 after his mother was diagnosed with the disease.

In March 2006, he discovered a lump in his left breast, but a mammogram indicated the lump was benign. Over a year later, a different test revealed he had stage 3 breast cancer. He had a radical mastectomy in December 2007, the month he turned 47, followed by chemotherapy.

“They removed his left breast,” said his wife, Kim. “He was very scared about what was going to happen, because men don’t think they have breasts.”

Seeger said lesser amounts of breast tissue in men can actually make it easier to detect small masses. However, the lack of tissue means a cancer does not need to grow far to reach the nipple, the skin, chest muscles or lymph nodes. By the time they are detected, many male breast cancers have already spread to other areas of the body.

Hugh Campbell received “five or six rounds of chemo,” his wife said. “We’ve been through so much. The cancer is stage 4 now. It has metastasized but to no major organs.”

Campbell is not alone. When Harvey Ragland was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1990, it was practically unheard of. “When I had it I kept hearing it was one out of 200,000,” he said. “I said, ‘Well I would rather have won the lottery.’”

Ragland, 65, was 40 and living in Clarksville, Ind., when he suddenly experienced pain in his left breast. He visited his family doctor, who declared it to be a blocked duct and placed him on an antibiotic. The pain only worsened, and four days later he visited a different doctor.

That doctor referred him to a surgeon, and a few days later, he had a radical mastectomy. Almost 100 hours of chemotherapy later, he completed his treatment. “I had my 25th anniversary cancer free on that breast this July,” he said.

The causes of breast cancer in men are not completely understood, but some risk factors have been identified — aging, a family history of breast cancer, inherited gene mutations, radiation exposure, heavy alcohol use, estrogen treatment, certain testicular conditions or obesity.

Treatment and survival rates are largely the same for men as for women.

“We have tons of data on how to treat women. The treatment recommendations from those studies seem to be very appropriate to men,” Seeger said. “We do mammograms and an ultrasound, then a biopsy — just like we do in women.”

Seeger said early detection is vital for both sexes. Men should look for “skin changes, a sore that doesn’t heal up, a lump in your breast, a discharge from your nipple. Where there’s a family history, those are the men that should be doing the breast self-exams.”

Despite his illness, Hugh Campbell continues to spread the word about breast cancer whenever he can.

“The sad part about it is men don’t talk about it,” Kim Campbell said. “Hugh has been very verbal from day one. He loves that people ask him questions. Men don’t want to think that they have a woman’s disease. They just don’t talk about it.”

But Weeks said Hugh Campbell is on the right path.

“I challenge men, when they see the pink ribbon, to not just put it in the category of my mom, my wife, my sister, my aunt,” she said. “They need to know that it can happen to them.”

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