Most people believed that only women are prone to breast cancer, it has been established that men also have the same burden. Though women are aware that breast cancer is more common to them due to the system of education in terms of public health awareness, it is yet to fully rub off on the men.
The month of February is cancer awareness month which is used to create more awareness on the debilitating sickness which can be tamed if detected early.
Dr Oluwole Olaomi, a medical expert who is a surgeon at the National Hospital, Abuja, on shedding more light said the awareness is very low mainly because breast cancer in men is very rare.
"It's just 1% of breast cancer cases that occur in women which is very small. Relatively, globally, the age incidence is about 10 years older in men compared to women but that does not mean that it doesn't occur in relatively younger people, it's just statistics. If you see women having breast cancer in their 50s, then you're talking about men generally having cancer in their 60s. The problem also is that majority of them present late, like in women too."
Possibly, he says, many men are not really aware of this problem or because they think it's something else as they never think it could be cancer.
On the issue of screening, he said screening for men is not a major problem because it's not a common thing, saying, " By the time you want to start screening men, you may not likely achieve much because in men, it is not a health problem so to say, not a major health problem with them as compared to women and the disease burden is less in the particular area. So, you're not expected to have a reasonable catch.
That's why if you look at it, screening among men may not be the same thing as with women.
The only thing is that men should be aware that breast cancer does exist among them and once they see anything around their breast in terms of enlargement, or distortion, they should not wait for pains.
They should report to their doctors who will be able to examine them, possibly take specimen biopsis, as this will reduce the possibility of averting the problem at an advanced stage.
Dr Olaomi disclosed that the cause of breast cancer in men is not known, same for women. He said the factors that have been attributed to women developing cancer is also valid for men.
"But the problem, with men," he emphasized, "is that breast cancer involves their chest wall muscle and it spreads quite early because men don't have so much breast tissues as compared to women. So they tend to spread locally."
Furthermore, he explained, " It may mean that it looks as if it spreads faster in them but usually, the spread we're talking about is to the local area. That is the immediate surroundings, the skin, the chest wall.
A lot of men don't have big breast tissues as compared to women generally but the diagnosis is along the same line.
You need to have a tissue specimen to look for cancer cells in them.
Then you need to do chest x-ray.
The line of management is essentially the same but for men, you need to do total mastectomy. You cannot do the elegant, conservative breast surgery in the case of men because even in women with very small breasts, it is not a fashion. The breast may be too small and distorted by the time you're conserving it for them."
On the most prevalent of all the cancers, the surgeon said it depends on the cancer group and the area it's situated.
"Cervical and breast cancer are leading causes of death among women.
But in advanced countries, cancer of the lung is very common and this is about the main leading cause of death, at times, worldwide, if they put their statistics together.
In Nigeria, breast cancer, cervical and prostate cancer are major issues for our health.
I may not be able to give you the real statistics of which one has the highest incidence but it depends on the area we're talking about.
But generally, the breast and the cervix in women are major areas.
The prostate in men and colon in both men and women, are major issues coupled with cancer of the stomach. These are male cancer killers around us."
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