Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Lauren Vogelbaum.
Speaker 1: Here a breast cancer is predominantly thought of as a
Speaker 1: women's disease, but the thing about humans is that we're
Speaker 1: all mammals. Men have breast tissue too, and men can
Speaker 1: also develop cancer in that tissue. For the article this
Speaker 1: episode is based on how Stuff Work, spoke with doctor
Speaker 1: Nikita Shaw, a section leader for breast medical oncology at
Speaker 1: Orlando Health uf Health Cancer Center. She explained that the
Speaker 1: reaction to such a traditionally feminine diagnosis can be volatile
Speaker 1: for guys. A quote. Some men embrace and run with it.
Speaker 1: Some men look at it as well, what's wrong with me?
Speaker 1: In women and men, a breast cancer is more common
Speaker 1: if you have a Braca one or brack A two
Speaker 1: G mutation, but not every man or woman with these
Speaker 1: mutations is destined to get breast cancer. Guys with these
Speaker 1: mutations the risk of getting breast cancer over the course
Speaker 1: of a lifetime is about six percent. Still, experts recommend
Speaker 1: that men with a strong family history of breast cancer
Speaker 1: or those who have been diagnosed already, get genetic testing
Speaker 1: to determine whether a gene is at play. How stuff works.
Speaker 1: Also spoke via email with Susan Brown, Senior Director of
Speaker 1: Education and Patient Support with Susan G. Comen As. She
Speaker 1: said the lifetime risk of getting breast cancer is about
Speaker 1: one in eight hundred and thirty three in US men,
Speaker 1: compared to one in eight for US women. A male
Speaker 1: breast cancers account for only one percent of all cases
Speaker 1: diagnosed each year in the US, which equates to about
Speaker 1: two thousand cases annually. But let's break down why this
Speaker 1: is and how breast cancer works. Both men and women
Speaker 1: have breast tissue. That breast tissue has fat, as well
Speaker 1: as glands that produce milk and ducks that carry the
Speaker 1: milk to the nipples. Most of the time, breast cancer
Speaker 1: for both men and women begins in the milk ducts.
Speaker 1: This is called ductal carcinoma. Breast cells normally grow and
Speaker 1: divide in response to estrogen, which is why people who
Speaker 1: are assigned male at birth generally don't develop much breast tissue.
Speaker 1: They generally have less estrogen. The more these cells divide,
Speaker 1: the more chances there are for mistakes to be made
Speaker 1: when copying their DNA. These DNA mistakes may eventually lead
Speaker 1: to cancer. If your hormones are unbalanced, that could increase
Speaker 1: breast cancer risk, but the cause of most male breast
Speaker 1: cancer is unknown. There are a few things that put
Speaker 1: men at slightly higher risk of developing breast cancer, according
Speaker 1: to Shah. For example, gynocomastia, which is the enlargement of
Speaker 1: male breast tissue, can be caused by liver disease, hormonal imbalance,
Speaker 1: or certain medications. Other risk factors include aging, family history
Speaker 1: of breast cancer, obesity, liver disease, radiation exposure, heavy drinking,
Speaker 1: and certain testicular conditions. Black men are at higher risk
Speaker 1: than white men, but again the exact cause of cancer
Speaker 1: developing is often unknown. While the risk of a breast
Speaker 1: cancer diagnosis for a man is lower than for a woman,
Speaker 1: it's often serious once it's caught. Shaw said men don't
Speaker 1: have that much breast tissue and they're not looking for it,
Speaker 1: so it's a higher stage when it's diagnosed because men
Speaker 1: aren't going in for mammograms. Brown said the most common
Speaker 1: sign of breast cancer in men is a painless lump
Speaker 1: or thickening in the breast or chest area. However, any
Speaker 1: change in the breast or nipple can be a warning
Speaker 1: sign of breast cancer in men. Those changes could include dimpling, puckering,
Speaker 1: or redness of the skin of the breast, itchy scaly sores,
Speaker 1: or a rash on the nipple, including spots of blood,
Speaker 1: pulling in or inversion of the nipple or other parts
Speaker 1: of the breast and nipple discharge, or any other change
Speaker 1: in the general size or shape of the breast. These
Speaker 1: signs are practically identical to those experienced by women with
Speaker 1: breast cancer. A treatment depends on the specific type and stage,
Speaker 1: but in general, men who are a diagnosed be treated
Speaker 1: similarly to a postmenopausal woman who's diagnosed. That treatment can
Speaker 1: include chemotherapy, hormone therapy, radiation, and or surgery. When it
Speaker 1: comes to surgery, men more often receive a complete misectomy
Speaker 1: rather than a lumpectomy, which is a partial removal of
Speaker 1: the breast, and that's because of the smaller size of
Speaker 1: most male breasts to begin with. That being said, treatment
Speaker 1: is handled on a case by case basis, with some
Speaker 1: men requiring radiation therapy depending on the stage. Typically, hormone
Speaker 1: therapy is also used, since most male breast cancer cases
Speaker 1: are hormone receptor positive. This therapy helps prevent the estrogen
Speaker 1: and progesterone hormones from attaching to the receptors in the cells,
Speaker 1: which stops the growth of cancerous cells. Chemotherapy is also
Speaker 1: dependent on stage and type. The diagnosis of breast cancer
Speaker 1: is enough to upset in any patient, but for men,
Speaker 1: it's often unexpected. Add the perception of the disease as feminine, though,
Speaker 1: and a new layer of discomfort is common. Brown said,
Speaker 1: men may be embarrassed if they have to get a
Speaker 1: diagnostic mammogram or see a breast surgeon or a breast
Speaker 1: cancer oncologist where they're surrounded by pink and mistaken as
Speaker 1: a caregiver and not the patient. I would personally add
Speaker 1: that the branding of cancer research and treatment in pink
Speaker 1: can be off putting to anyone. But more to our
Speaker 1: point today, it's up to caregivers and the public to
Speaker 1: shift the dialogue to be more inclusive. Brown said, we
Speaker 1: can do a better job when talking about breast cancer,
Speaker 1: deliberately adding men to the story, acknowledging it can occur,
Speaker 1: normalizing the occurrence of breast cancer and men to remove
Speaker 1: the stigma, and as more men share their breast cancer diagnosis, publicly,
Speaker 1: the stigma should decrease. Brown also suggests support groups for
Speaker 1: men dealing with such a diagnosis, as she said, support
Speaker 1: groups for breast cancer may only have female members, so
Speaker 1: joining a support group for men with any type of
Speaker 1: cancer may be more helpful. If you or someone you
Speaker 1: love is looking for that support, you can check with
Speaker 1: your medical provider or a cancer advocacy organization like Comen
Speaker 1: four resources in your area or online. Today's episode is
Speaker 1: based on the article male breast cancer is Rare but
Speaker 1: Real on HowStuffWorks dot Com, written by Aleah Hoyt. Brain
Speaker 1: Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks
Speaker 1: dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. For four
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