Breast cancer in men: Shame and ignorance obscures a lethal American health issue
Even if one is not diagnosed with it, breast cancer feels personal. And while the vast majority of those detected with the disease are female, there is no denying that the opposite gender is not immune either. As per CDC, about 1 out of every 100 breast cancers diagnosed in the United States is found in a man. American Cancer Society states that more than 2,700 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and approximately 530 men die from the disease. According to Breast Cancer Research Foundation, about one in 833 men will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. However, men are often diagnosed with this cancer at a more advanced stage, says the report by Breastcancer.org. But why? Well, the stigmatization.
Richard Roundtree, who played the lead character in the 1971 classic ‘Shaft’, shared the shame he felt when he was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993. In 2009, he wrote on Essence magazine, “I was taking a shower in Costa Rica I felt this lump. I knew it wasn’t ordinary, so I finished work about a week later and had my doctor check it out. He said it’s nothing to worry about but let me stick a needle in it anyway. Three days later I received the we-need-to-talk call that immediately sent up red flags for me like crazy. When he sat me down and told me I had cancer so many things went through my mind but the first was, “Wait, did he just say I had breast cancer?” “That word scared the beejeezus out of me! I couldn’t relate and I thought he was questioning my manhood because women die from this, not men,” Roundtree said and added, "But I soon learned that this disease is not gender-based."
