John W. Nick had no chance against the cancer that took his life.
His breast cancer was misdiagnosed, said his daughter Nancy Nick. By the time he found the right doctor and was accurately diagnosed in 1990, surgery and practical methods couldn?t save him.
“After they removed it, he died only a year later. It was in stage four,” said Nancy. “They always preach early detection. Well, if one doesn?t know, then how does one have early detection?”
Most information about breast cancer targets women, but men can get it too ? and when they do, it?s more deadly, partly because men aren?t looking for it, said Lillie Shockney, administrative director at the Johns Hopkins Avon Foundation Breast Center.
Only 1 percent of people diagnosed with breastcancer are men, but they carry a 25 percent higher mortality rate, she said. That?s 1,800 men who are diagnosed with breast cancer every year and 450 deaths.
“It?s not the men?s fault that they don?t know they can get it,” said Nancy Nick, who started the nonprofit John W. Nick Foundation in 1993 to raise awareness. “Male breast cancer is not new. It?s been around forever.”
Because the disease is rare, however, physicians are not as versed on the subject as in other medical areas, said Dr. Jennifer Griggs, a breast cancer expert at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
It is more important to raise awareness in doctors, she said. “Many doctors do not think that men should have breast exams or [think] that breast abnormalities are not anything to follow up. Because breast cancer is so uncommon among men, major efforts to increase awareness are not likely to be fruitful.”
At Johns Hopkins, which sees about 10 cases a year, raising awareness is a priority, Shockney said.
“Breastivals” held at college campuses, give men a chance to “learn about it for themselves as well as for their girlfriends, mothers, sisters and grandmothers,” she said. “Young men are always surprised to learn that they too can get it.”
Despite these efforts, male breast cancer may always carry a stigma, Nick said.
“A lot of the time, men are embarrassed,” said Nick. “It?s like, ?Why do I have a women?s disease?? ”
John Nick was 58 years old and had 19 grandchildren when he died in 1991.
Male breast cancer facts
» Most men who contract the disease have high estrogen levels and gynecomastia ? an abnormal enlargement of the breasts.
» Patients are usually diagnosed between 60 and 70 years old.
» Exposure to radiation and a history of breast cancer anywhere in the family increase chances of having breast cancer.
» A man with the disease may have a noticeable lump under the skin or the skin may be red and swollen.
Source: National Cancer Institute
