'Men die needlessly from cancer'

2006-02-18 12:22

London - British men are dying needlessly from breast cancer because they are unaware of the symptoms or too embarrassed to seek advice, one of the country's leading experts on the condition said on Friday.

"It's easy to think breast cancer only affects women, especially as there is so much information available about female breast cancer," Professor Ian Fentiman, of Guy's Hospital in London, wrote in medical journal The Lancet.

"As cases in men continue to rise, it is vital that we work now to improve the support and information available," he added.

About 250 British men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, of whom about 70 die. Of all breast cancer cases annually, about 1% are men.

"If diagnosed early enough, a man with breast cancer has between 75% to 100% chance of making a full recovery, but this can drop to as low as 30% for men with very advanced disease," Fentiman said.

"Half the men who get breast cancer in the United Kingdom are not diagnosed until their cancer is very advanced, and men are dying unnecessarily because they are unaware of the symptoms or too embarrassed to seek help."

The most common signs of male breast cancer are a painless lump in the chest or a nipple which has turned inwards, although these are also symptoms of gynaecomastia, a harmless swelling under the nipple.

Liz Carroll, head of clinical services for charity Breast Cancer Care, praised the clinician's report as an "important addition" to evidence that men could be dying from ignorance that breast cancer can affect them.

"Professor Fentiman rightly points out that much more must be done to ensure information and help is getting through," she said.

- AFP