Mastectomy, not vasectomy, is a procedure a few men are having to discuss with their doctors. Though rare in men, male breast cancer has increased 26 percent since 1973.
Because the disease is almost always associated with women, suffering with it as a man can be a lonely experience.
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That’s where Lloyd Gordon comes in. He is one of the few men who have experienced breast cancer.
A bleeding nipple was the first sign that something was wrong. “I took off my shirt and my undershirt was filled with blood,” said Gordon, 75, of Skokie.
After a mastectomy in 1986, Gordon was declared cancer free. He now volunteers and counsels men just diagnosed with breast cancer. “I explain to them what it’s about because they don’t understand it. They say, `How can a man have this?'” he said.
But a man can have this, and some experts link the increase to soaring obesity rates. “From a cause-effect standpoint, it’s thought that the fat acts as an area for the estrogen to deposit,” said Dr. Emilio Barrera, a surgical oncologist with Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. “If estrogen, even if it’s a tiny amount in men, is stored in the body, it may be what is causing the increased risk.”
Barrera has treated just “a handful of men” for breast cancer in his 20-year career. With so few cases, medical professionals sometimes are surprised to meet a male breast cancer patient. For example, Gordon said, after his mastectomy, a nurse walked into the room and asked for Mrs. Gordon.
They may have been surprised, but Gordon said no one ever questioned his bleeding nipple or dismissed it as a muscle injury. “I think all doctors should look at pain in a man’s breast and scrutinize it as carefully as they would a woman,” he said.
Because breast cancer is more common in women, Gordon said, many men dealing with a diagnosis feel confused and wonder if there is something wrong or feminine with them. Many new patients also worry whether surgery will ruin sports activities such as tennis or golf.
“No way,” Gordon said. “I think men should have the [mastectomy] as quickly as possible once diagnosed. If you’ve got it, get rid of it.”