• Address: Walkersville, MD 21793 (map)
• Date Posted: 11/15/09

Male Breast Cancer Sucks!
Any way you look at it, cancer is a devastating diagnosis. It becomes even more so when you are diagnosed with a form of cancer that you never even knew was a remote possibility for a man. I'm referring to male breast cancer. Go ahead; ask yourself or a man in your life. I'll venture to say that 70-75% will say, "There's no such thing, breast cancer is a woman's disease," or, "I never knew that!" That is the overwhelming response I still receive when I talk about my husband.

The American Cancer Society predicts that approximately 1990 men in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009. For every 100 women with breast cancer, one man will develop the disease and most of those men will be not only devastated but shocked and surprised.

Is 1990 men an epidemic? No, but in 2005 when my husband was diagnosed the statistic was 1200-1600 men! If he had known it was a possibility, he wouldn't have mistakenly assumed it was a weight lifting injury and waited to seek medical attention.

Statistics show that the chances for succesful treatment and ultimately survival are best when breast cancer is found in it's earliest stages. Statistics also show that a higher percentage of men will die from breast cancer than women because they are typically diagnosed at a late stage.
October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with the ubiquitous pink ribbons and almost all of the information geared toward women. In 2009 a group of male breast cancer advocates joined forces and proclaimed the 3rd week of October as Male Breast Cancer Awareness Week. Please spread the word! Help bring male breast cancer Out of the Shadow of Pink! Together we will make a difference!

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