My friends didn't believe I have breast cancer - because I'm a man ...

WHEN Paul Caine was diagnosed with breast cancer last May, he started a gruelling course of chemotherapy.

But the 50-year-old had another battle on his hands ? to convince his mates his illness was real because they thought it only affected women.

Paul, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, said when he broke the news to his closest pals they accused him of ?taking the mickey?.

But even though women are 100 times more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than men, up to 350 men are told they have the potentially deadly disease in the UK every year.

Paul said: ?I was having a shower when I felt a lump. I thought it was a cyst as I had never heard of breast cancer in men.?

The dad-of-one is now urging other men to make sure they check themselves and be aware of the risks.

He said: ?A lot of people I have told have said, ?No, men can?t get breast cancer?, and I say I can assure you they can because I have got it.?

Paul, who has a 16-year-old daughter Grace, had to undergo exactly the same diagnosis procedures as women ? including a mammogram, breast ultrasound and a biopsy to diagnose the cancer.

Risk factors for breast cancer in men are not fully understood.

However it is thought the chances increase with age, if there is a family history of breast cancer, if men are exposed to high levels of radiation, are overweight or drink heavily over a sustained period.

Symptoms can include changes in the breast shape or size, a nipple turning in, bleeding or discharge from the nipple, a swelling or lump in the armpit or an ulcer on the skin of the breast.

Bolton-based GP Dr Stephen Liversedge admitted: ?Breast cancer in men is very uncommon? with only one of two diagnosed in the town each year.

He added: ?Most doctors will probably never see a case in their professional lifetime, but it?s something we are aware can occur. On the whole, a lump in a man?s breast is very apparent.?

Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4756115/Speaking-out-for-men-with-breast-cancer.html

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