For most people, consciousness of breast cancer awareness and prevention only lasts for a month. Although October has ended, breast cancer isn’t going anywhere. Fortunately, there are organizations solely dedicated to this issue that do a phenomenal job raising awareness year-round, educating the masses about prevention techniques. Breast cancer in particular enjoys widespread awareness; yet, a large component is still missing: men. What? Yes, men can get cancer too, which is a fact that is notably absent from breast cancer campaigns.
Over 10 years ago, my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a gloomy era for my family, since my father had just lost his stepfather to prostate cancer and his mother to a rare lung disease within a span of three years. It became very obvious to me at a young age that cancer is a real and imminent threat to the people I love. One in every eight women born today will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime, according to the National Cancer Institute. This is about my mother, my aunt, my grandma.
Some men may write breast cancer off as a female issue — with potentially disastrous consequences down the line.
Men also have breast tissue, and therefore have the potential to get breast cancer; yet, according to a recent study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, nearly 80 percent of the sample size weren’t even aware that men could get breast cancer. For men, the lifetime risk of getting breast cancer is about one in 1,000, according to the American Cancer Society.
Thus, although men are significantly less likely to suffer from breast cancer, the threat still exists, especially if breast cancer runs in the family. Other risk factors such as obesity, exposure to radiation, high levels of estrogen and heavy drinking can also increase the likelihood of getting breast cancer.
Genetics may also play a role; one in five men with breast cancer have a female relative with the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. If you’re a health-conscious male, then you might already be doing regular testicular examinations to prevent testicular cancer. Why not add a couple of seconds to your routine and check your chest too?
I’m sure most people remember the “I Love Boobies” bracelets that many people strutted around high school with as a badge of honor. This campaign by the Keep A Breast Foundation has been instrumental in raising awareness for breast cancer; for example, breast cancer receives the most funding compared to all of the other forms of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.
This campaign used a sexual gimmick to create more participation by men in the breast cancer cause; yet, by sexualizing this campaign, it may have actually inflicted a toll on awareness and reinforced the perception that only women can get breast cancer.
Advocacy groups for breast cancer awareness and the movement as a whole have evolved into a symbol for femininity and female empowerment; indeed, even the pink ribbon that flies proudly at breast cancer programs has served to uniquely brand breast cancer as a disease that only women can get. Meanwhile, awareness, research and funding for breast cancer among males have been sacrificed in the process. For example, a 2006 study published in the Lancet found that males tend to wait far too long to seek medical treatment: over 40 percent of male patients with breast cancer are only diagnosed when the cancer has grown to stage three or four.
Since so few men are even aware that it’s possible to get breast cancer, it is all too common for them to wait until it’s too late. By using pink as a flag for breast cancer in addition to the “I Love Boobies” campaign, breast cancer activists have positioned this illness as a uniquely feminine issue, all while sacrificing awareness that men can get breast cancer too.