Men Get Breast Cancer Too

04 Nov Men Get Breast Cancer Too

Reuters recently ran a story on October 22 stating that a founding member of the rock band KISS, Peter Criss, recently fought and won a battle with breast cancer.  Criss discovered a lump in his left nipple near the end of the year 2007. After undergoing a lumpectomy in 2008, he Continued his treatment and did a mastectomy one month later, Criss begin speaking out on the relatively unknown disease hoping to raise awareness.
Criss stated, “It can happen to you, and when it does, if you don’t deal with it right away, with your ‘dude’ and your metal and your tattoos, you’ll go in the box and we’ll see you.”

Criss went public about the surgery hoping to inspire other men to get checked for breast cancer. He hopes his “heavy metal credentials” will help break some of the stereotypes about men and breast cancer. Criss assures the rest of his gender, “You are no more manly a guy than me — I grew up in Brooklyn.”

The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be nearly 2,000 individual cases of male breast cancer in 2009, and about 440 men will die because they will not get an early diagnosis.

Medline Plus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, states that the disease usually strikes men of 60 years of age and up. The most common causes of male breast cancer are genetics, exposure to radiation and high estrogen levels. There is also an increased risk if the patient suffers from diseases such as cirrhosis and Klinefelter’s syndrome.

Patients and their doctors should be on the lookout for symptoms of this rare but threatening disease. Symptoms include lumps, changes in the nipple, or discharge. Treatment, if it is diagnosed early enough, can be successful. Treatment may involve a mastectomy operation, radiation, chemotherapy or hormone therapy.

The most important factor is early diagnosis. Your doctor is not ignorant as to the possibility of men and breast cancer. Therefore, a failure to diagnose breast cancer in men under some circumstances could be grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

If you would like to talk to a lawyer about your case contact the Rasansky Law Firm at 1-800-ATTORNEY. You deserve the utmost care from your doctor and you shouldn’t have to suffer because of someone else’s negligence!