Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey and Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts recently proclaiming October 21 through October 27 as Male Breast Cancer Awareness Week in their respective states. With this proclamation, New Jersey and Massachusetts become the third and fourth states to recognize this week, joining Pennsylvania and Florida.
Male breast cancer is rare, accounting for less than 1% of all breast cancers. Men with the disease are often undiagnosed and their cancer is not detected until it has progressed to a later stage.
Some important facts about male breast cancer:
- Survival rates for men are about the same as for women with the same stage of cancer at the time of diagnosis. Unfortunately, male breast cancer is often undiagnosed until late stages.
- The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2012, about 2,190 new cases of male breast cancer will be diagnosed and that it will be the cause of approximately 410 deaths.
- About 27% of men with breast cancer will die from the disease. ■
