This I do not understand........?

Question

Do not get me wrong, but what the heck is it with breast cancer? Dont get me wrong, I feel bad for women who get it, I have known people who have it. But arent men at the same risk? Why are we just raising awarness for just women, why not men to?

I know what breast cancer is, but all I am saying is, that shouldnt we raise awarness for this cancer? Not just speceficly for women? I know that breast cancer is the most common form of cancer for women, but still.

Answer 1

Simply being a woman is the main risk factor for developing breast cancer. Although women have many more breast cells than men, the main reason they develop more breast cancer is because their breast cells are constantly exposed to the growth-promoting effects of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone. Men can develop breast cancer, but this disease is about 100 times more common among women than men.

Even though men do not have breasts like women, they do have a small amount of breast tissue. In fact, the "breasts" of an adult man are similar to the breasts of a girl before puberty, and consist of a few ducts surrounded by breast and other tissue. In girls, this tissue grows and develops in response to female hormones, but in men -- who do not secrete the same amounts of these hormones -- this tissue does not develop.

However, because it is still breast tissue, men can develop breast cancer. In fact, men get the same types of breast cancers that women do, although cancers involving the milk-producing and storing regions of the breast are very rare.

Breast cancer in men is a very rare disease. This is possibly due to their smaller amount of breast tissue and the fact that men produce smaller amounts of hormones like estrogen that are known to affect breast cancers in women.

There are 1,400 cases of male breast cancer per year. In fact, only about 1 in 100 breast cancers affect men and only about 10 men in a million will develop breast cancer.

BRCA1 and BRCA2: The most common inherited mutations are those of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Normally, these genes help to prevent cancer by making proteins that keep cells from growing abnormally. However, if you have inherited a mutated copy of either gene from a parent, you are at increased risk for breast cancer.

Women with an inherited BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation have up to an 80% chance of developing breast cancer during their lifetime, and when they do it is often at a younger age than in women who are not born with one of these gene mutations.-

Answer 2

Men do have a very slight risk of getting breast cancer, but the likelihood of a woman getting it and it being fatal is much greater. It's just the opposite with colon cancer. Men are much more likely to develop colon cancer therefore men are screened for it much more often. Women CAN get colon cancer but it is rare.

Answer 3

Male breast cancer is rare. It happens most often to men between the ages of 60 and 70. Risk factors for male breast cancer include exposure to radiation, a family history of breast cancer and having high estrogen levels, which can occur with diseases like cirrhosis or Klinefelter's syndrome.

Symptoms of male breast cancer include lumps, changes to the nipple or breast skin, or discharge of fluid from the nipple. Treatment for male breast cancer is usually a mastectomy, which is surgery to remove the breast. Other treatments include radiation, chemotherapy and/or hormone therapy.

Answer 4

No, men don't get it as often. Breast cancer, as with any cancer, is a group of cells that grow uncontrollalbly. (hence the tumors). These cells can spread to other parts of the body and take over your lungs, heart, brain, liver, etc. which keep them from funcitoning properly and thus kills you.