News 2 Interview: Men & Breast Cancer

Dennis Smalls is enjoying life despite the spots that appear on his spine and the scar that reminds him of the lump that was removed.  He is taking Tamoxifen to treat stage 2 breast cancer discovered April 2009.
 
Biopsy results indicated infiltrating ductal adenocarcinoma, making Smalls one of just 2,000 men in the United States who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.
 
Breast cancer isn’t just a woman’s disease. Men also have breast tissue that can undergo cancerous changes. While women are about 100 times more likely to get breast cancer, any man can develop breast cancer. Male breast cancer is most common between the ages of 60 and 70.
 
Smalls takes a daily dose of tamoxifen as a preventative and has regular checkups. He has resumed a normal life, working as physical trainer at a West Ashley gym.
 
The prognosis for male breast cancer is the same as for breast cancer in women. In the past, male breast cancer was often diagnosed at a more advanced stage, which may have led people to believe it had a worse prognosis. Although male breast cancer and breast cancer in women are similar, important distinctions such as breast size and awareness affect early diagnosis and survival in cases of male breast cancer.