Men face greater risk of breast cancer as cases rise by a third

RESEARCHERS from Leeds University are warning men face an increased risk of breast cancer, after cases of the illness in males in England rose by a third between 1986 and 2006.

Around 340 men in the UK now develop the disease each year, of whom around 70 die.

But the academics said many men did not know they were at risk of the disease, which affects 48,000 women in the UK every year.

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Researchers, who used funding from the charities Breast Cancer Campaign and Yorkshire Cancer Research, said it was difficult to pinpoint a cause for the increase in cases.

Valerie Speirs, who led the study, said: “Lifestyle changes over the latter decades of the 20th century, leading to increased obesity, physical inactivity and development of a binge drinking culture, may be contributing factors.

“Some of the same inherited genetic changes that increase the risk of women developing breast cancer are also thought to influence risk in men.

“Many men are unaware they can be affected by breast cancer but this work has highlighted that the number of cases is gradually increasing.

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“It must be stressed that the numbers are still extremely small – 150 times less than in women so we are certainly not talking about an epidemic. However better awareness is needed.” Dr Speirs now plans to examine the genes and proteins involved in male breast cancers to examine similarities and differences with female breast cancer.

This may help to pinpoint differences which can be exploited to improve and develop treatments targeted at men.

At present, most information used to diagnose and treat men comes from studies of the illness in women.

Researchers in Leeds are now collecting and storing male breast tissue samples in the groundbreaking Breast Cancer Campaign tissue bank.

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Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of the Breast Cancer Campaign, said: “The study of breast cancer in men has been difficult in the past because of the relatively small number of cases.

“As early diagnosis and treatment is vital to increase the chances of survival, we need to raise awareness.

“The new Breast Cancer Campaign tissue bank, with a core centre in Leeds, will be invaluable to researchers to enable them to understand the molecular causes, similarities and differences between male and female breast cancer, as well as testing the effectiveness of existing and new treatments.”

Meanwhile, a new poll has also revealed that half of women are scared of breast cancer, yet one in five cannot identify any signs or symptoms.

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The survey of more than 1,000 women, for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, also found 56 per cent of women do not check their breasts regularly.

Of this group, 54 per cent say they forget to check, 22 per cent have never thought about it and 20 per cent do not know what they are looking for.

Of those women who do examine their breasts, 45 per cent say they are “fairly confident” they would notice a change.

In a separate survey looking at fears of breast cancer, 84 per cent of women said they would worry the possibility of the disease spreading and some 83 per cent would worry about not surviving.

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Chris Askew, chief executive of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: “These results show that British women are fearful not only of being diagnosed with breast cancer, but also of the long and short-term effects of the disease.”

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