Men’s Health Blog

     Well this week is the official American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology meeting in Los Angeles, CA. It is always a wonderful meeting with a lot of good information for other oncologists (cancer doctors) and other cancer care professionals. This is typically where a lot of studies will be reported on, results from clinical trials, new methods, new techniques, and where new and exciting treatments are unveiled and shared with everyone in attendance. It is a wonderful place full of knowledge and cutting edge techniques all surrounding the treatment of cancer.

In a report released on-line by ABC medical news unit, reported by Katharine Stoel Gammon (full report) they talk about a study that was released on the 29th of October by Dr. Harry Bartelink from the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam. This study takes a look at the 10 year data for women with breast cancer that receive a "boost" to the cancer bed at the end of their typical radiation therapy treatments.

What the study found was that women that received this additional "boost" to the original site of the breast cancer are almost 2x more likely to be cancer free after 10 years then women that did not receive the additional boost. This seemed to have the strongest survival benefit in women under the age of 40, yet all women seemed to have a benefit from the additional radiation "boost."

Dr. Bartelink stated that he was very pleased with the results of the study. He said that more then 80% of women were alive after 10 years. He also stated that even though only 5% of all breast cases involve women under the age of 40, that it is still very beneficial since this subgroup of women also tend to have the highest rate of recurrences. This is due to the fact that women under the age of 40, have a lot more years to live, allowing the potential for the cancer to come back over that amount of time.

Treating early stage breast cancer typically involves a lumpectomy (removal of the breast cancer itself from the breast) followed by a course of radiation therapy. This course of treatment typically take 6 to 8 weeks of time. Patients receive radiation 5 days a week. The entire breast is at risk for a recurrence, so the radiation treatments involve the entire breast tissue during this time.  

The one thing to consider, is that the data also states that if a women is going to have a recurrence, 90% of the time that recurrence is going to happen at the same site of where the original breast lesion was discovered. Due to this fact, the entire breast will need a lower dose of radiation as compared to the lumpectomy site itself. This "boost" allows the lumpectomy site to get a higher dose of radiation with minimal additional side effects.

The biggest side effect in this small additional dose is fibrosis (scar tissue) at the lumpectomy site. The standard average seen is about 1%, with the additional "boost" it may rise to about 4%. This can be decreased back to the 1% with better surgical techniques. The other side effects that some patients may experience with this additional boost are redness, a slight swelling, and perhaps a bit more tenderness.

The one good thing for all of us to remember, is that in the US, in the vast majority of cancer centers, that this additional "boost" has been the standard of care for many years. So this means that most women that have received radiation for their breast cancer have already received an additional boost to the original breast cancer site. The "boost" to the lumpectomy site is also performed with electrons, which is a much lower energy, and does not penetrate as deeply as the radiation to the entire breast. This allows for the dose to be aimed more precisely at just the lumpectomy site and sparing more of the normal tissues. As you can see in the above picture, the circled area on the breast with the blue in the top image is the area that will be treated with the "boost." In the lower picture, the area that is highlighted in pink is the lumpectomy cavity that will receive the additional "boost."

                              If you question if you received this additional boost, try to remember your breast cancer treatment. You most likely received the majority of your treatment from the machine being in two different spots. If you received the additional boost treatment, it would most likely been at the end of your treatment, the last 5 days, and the machine would have only been in one spot.  The therapists would have placed a "cone" onto the machine, and this would direct the boost to the lumpectomy site. You would also notice that the machine was really close to you as well. The machine would have looked and been positioned much like the picture above.

As always, if you or a loved one have any other questions, comments, or concerns; if you would like more information in regards to another cancer related topic, please contact me at: CANCERGEEK@GMAIL.COM or CANCERGEEK@CANCERGEEK.COM

~CancerGeek

What is Viagra?
Viagra® (sildenafil citrate)  is a breakthrough treatment now available for male Erectile Dysfunction (ED), often called impotence. It comes in the form of a pill which you take prior to engaging in sexual activity.
 Viagra can help many men who have ED get and keep an erection when they become sexually stimulated, either physically or visually.

How does Viagra work?
Normally, when a man is sexually aroused, the arteries in the penis relax and widen, allowing more blood to flow into the penis. As the arteries in the penis expand and harden, the veins that carry blood away from the penis become compressed, trapping the blood in the penis. This leads to enlargement, rigidity and  an erection of the penis.

If the nerves or blood vessels associated with this process aren't working properly, a man may not be able to get an erection. Viagra increases blood flow to the penis, so that when a man is sexually aroused, he can get and keep an erection. When the sexual encounter is over, the erection goes away.

How much dose is necessary for the desired effect?
Viagra is available in three strengths: 25 mg, 50 mg. and 100 mg. Though 50mg is the recommended dose, your initial Viagra dose would be decided by your healthcare professional. It is important to remember that only one dose should be taken per day and should not be increased unless advised by your doctor.

If you take any medicines that are nitrates (nitroglycerin, as chest pain) every day or even once in a while, you have to take Viagra NOT.
Discuss your general state of health with the doctor that you are healthy to engage in a sexual relationship. If chest pain, nausea, or any other discomforts during sex, to seek immediate medical assistance.

Although erections more than 4 may occur rarely with all ED treatments in this drug class, in order to avoid long-term injuries, it is important to seek immediate medical assistance.

If you are over 65 or have serious liver or kidney problems, your doctor may start you at low doses (25 mg) of Viagra. If you are taking protease inhibitors, such as for the treatment of HIV, your doctor may recommend that the 25 mg dose and may limit you to a maximum single dose of 25 mg in 48 hours Viagra.

In rare instances, men taking PDE5 inhibitors (oral erectile dysfunction drugs, including Viagra) reported a sudden decrease or loss of sight. It is not possible to determine whether these events are related directly to these medicines or other factors. If a sudden decrease or loss of sight, to stop the adoption of PDE5 inhibitors, including Viagra, and call a doctor immediately.

Sudden reduction or loss of hearing has been rarely reported in people taking PDE5 inhibitors, including Viagra. It is not possible to determine whether these events are directly related to PDE5 inhibitors, or other factors. If a sudden decrease or loss of hearing, to stop the adoption Viagra and contact a doctor immediately. If you have prostate problems or high blood pressure, for which you take medicines called alpha blockers, your doctor may start you on a lower dose of Viagra.

Be sure to protect yourself and your partner from sexually transmitted diseases.

The most common side effects of Viagra are headache, flushing the front, and upset stomach. Less commonly, bluish vision, blurred vision or sensitivity to light May briefly place.

Look for the complete prescribing Viagra (25 mg, 50-mg, 100-mg) tablets.

This is a video that was done for Breast Cancer Awareness. The two people on the show are Dr. Edie Krueger who is a radiation oncoligist and Andy DeLaO who is a director of oncology services, as well as a radiation therapist and a medical dosimetrist.

It is a really well done video speaking on the importance of Breast Cancer Awareness and the role of Radiation as a treatment option for women with Breast Cancer.

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7396913146168512922]If you have any other questions, comments, concerns or if you or a loved one need any help with anything else, please contact me at: CANCERGEEK@GMAIL.COM

~CancerGeek

  In an early release of the Journal of Clinical Oncology on-line dated Oct. 22, 2007 is a report on a study conducted at the University of Minnesota on the increase of patients choosing to have a mastectomy performed on the opposite unaffected breast in order to prevent cancer in the future. For women diagnosed with Breast Cancer, it has always been an option to have the entire breast surgically removed. As more and more data has been collected, and more in depth studies have been conducted, there has been a trend for more women to choose to have Breast Conserving Surgery versus the entire removal of the Breast affected with cancer. However, this study conducted at the University of Minnesota has seen a gradual yet significant increase. In 1998 there was about 1.8% of all breast cancer patients decided to have both breasts removed. As of 2003, the data collected at the University of Minnesota has shown an increase to 4.5% of all patients.

  The study analyzed data from a small fraction of the estimated 200,000 women who receive a breast cancer diagnosis each year in the U.S. If these figures are accurate, it could be seen that there is an average of 8000 to 10,000 women a  year choosing to have this elective surgery done. The name of the surgery is called: Contra-lateral Prophylactic Mastectomy (surgical removal of opposite breast not affected with breast cancer.)

Some patients decide to have this major operation because they just want the best option for survivability. There is the thought process that I just want this thing out of my body. I want to do everything in my power to give me the best opportunity to defeat this cancer from ever coming back in the future. By removing both breasts, some patients feel that this is the best choice for them.

The studies lead author, Dr. Todd M. Tuttle, chief of surgical oncology at the University of Minnesota started the study because so many of his patients were requesting to have the procedure performed. Dr. Tuttle said that he was surprised that so many patients were deciding to have the unaffected breast removed as well. He noticed the trend was moving upwards and that it shows no signs of leveling off, even as breast conserving surgery (lumpectomy) expands and becomes more popular.

He stated that some of his patients have said that they just want to be done with it. They do not want to have to think about breast cancer ever again, or to have to deal with having another mammogram performed, or to go through another biopsy, then the waiting of finding out if it is back or if it isn't.

The thing that is VERY important for patients to realize is that even thought the breast is removed, and that the risk of recurrence is drastically reduced, it does not mean that the risk is zero. This is because there is still some breast tissue that remains behind. Surgeons are good, but there is no way that they can ensure that every single piece of breast tissue has been removed from the patient. Another thing to remember is that its the initial cancer diagnosis that poses the greatest threat to a patient's life.

The study used data from cancer surveillance registries covering about a quarter of the United States to identify 152,755 patients whose cancer was diagnosed in one breast from 1998 to 2003. The rate rose steadily, with 4.5 percent of all patients who received breast cancer diagnoses in 2003 having the surgery, up from 1.8 percent in 1998.

In those patients that chose to have a mastectomy for the breast that was found to have cancer, 11% (2003) decided to have the other breast removed for prevention of future breast cancer as well. This was up from 4.2% in 1998. Patients with stage I breast cancer choose to have the procedure done more often then those patients with more advanced and aggressive breast cancer.

Younger women, white women and women with a previous cancer diagnosis were more likely to opt for a contra-lateral prophylactic mastectomy, the study found, as were women who had lobular histology, meaning the cancer started in the lobules or milk-making glands of the breast.

What the researchers are also noticing is that there are two extremes being seen by patients with Breast Cancer. One group decides to have lumpectomy, or a minimal surgery, and the other group decided to have a both breasts removed. There are fewer women deciding to just have one breast removed.

  The most important thing for all of us to remember is that education is the best tool for all of our patients, family members, and loved ones. In order for patients to make the best decision for themselves, we need to arm them with all of the facts surrounding their disease and diagnosis. Before any patient makes a decision to have surgery, they should also meet with a Radiation Oncologist as well as a Medical Oncologist to know all of their treatment options up front. This allows a patient to have all of the information in front of them in order to make the best decision based on their cancer type, life style, and personal needs. A patient may decide that having a lumpectomy and radiation followed by Tamoxifen or Femara is a far better choice for them physically, emotionally, and personally versus having both breasts removed.

If you as a patient feel that you are not armed with all of the information prior to making a decision, remember that you have every right to tell the physicians to slow down, that you want a second opinion, and that you want to meet with the entire team of physicians in order to make the best informed decision around the type of cancer you have.

As always, if you or a loved one have any other questions, comments, or concerns; if you would like more information in regards to another cancer related topic, please contact me at: CANCERGEEK@GMAIL.COM or CANCERGEEK@CANCERGEEK.COM

~CancerGeek

   As we all know this month is National Breast Cancer Awareness month here in the U.S., but world wide there is a awareness for Breast Cancer this month as well. Breast Cancer in the most researched and widely publicized topic of all cancers. It is great because we are making some wonderful strides in the detection, prevention, and treatment of Breast Cancer. This has helped to save more lives, keep more women from experiecing devastating and life changing side effects, as well as keeping more mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends on this earth.

In Australia there was a new online calculator that was developed to help educate and caluculate the risk that a women may have for developing breast cancer. It is really nice since it is online and is relatively accessible to most people in the world. It is also very robust since it goes through all of the major contributing risk factors for women, and also gives women the option to click and learn more about each of the risk factors.

Dr. Helen Zorbas of the National Breast Cancer Centre said in a report released earlier today that, "One in three women think that a knock or bump to the breast increases their risk significantly yet they don't believe that alcohol poses any risk for breast cancer."

This goes to show how confusing all of this information can be for all of us at times. I mean each day there are several reports published saying this thing or that thing has been linked to Breast Cancer. There are also a lot of myths out there as well that have been linked to Breast Cancer. I have seen in my own patients that all of this information on risk factors, family history, genetics, and alcohol consumption can be very confusing.

I personally have always had a general rule of thumb that I have shared with my female patients in regards to some simple factors that they can control.

1. Drinking one alcoholic beverage per day increases your risk by about 10%. Consume 2 drinks per day, and it raises by about 20%. This means on a daily basis. This also does not mean that you can save all of your drinks and binge on one night either. Unfortunately, it doesn;t work that way.
2.  Exercising for 45 minutes a day can decrease your risk for developing breast cancer by about 6%. Increase that to 2 days a week, and you decrease your risk by 12%. This accumulates as well, so there is a good argument for physical activity and excercse.

I took an indepth look at the online calculator and found it be very user friendly and helpful. There are also links along the way that allows one to read about more information on each of the risk factors that you are asked about. At the end, it also gives you a good explanation on what you might be able to do to change some of these risk factors, what to watch for, and more information on each factor.

As always, this can not take the place of yearly physical exams, screening mammograms, breast self exams, and being aware of changes that you are experiencing with your own body. This is just another tool to help you in the fight and prevention against Breast Cancer, and if you are at a higher risk, to then arm yourself with the correct tools to give yourself the best chance for survival of this disease.

Here is the link to the online calculator: Breast Cancer Risk Calculator

As always, if you or a loved one have any other questions, comments, or concerns; if you would like more information in regards to another cancer related topic, please contact me at: CANCERGEEK@GMAIL.COM or CANCERGEEK@CANCERGEEK.COM

~CancerGeek

What happened? Action man has become inaction man. Sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) is the key player in the who stole the testosterone mystery. It grabs the hormone and runs, and won't let go. The more SHBG, the less free, active, "bioavailable" testosterone can get out into the blood and then to the cells to do its job.

Its called Andropause, yes the male version of Menopause in women. It's about aging. "If I had known I was gonna live this long, I would have taken better care of myself." This quote from Jimmy Durante sums it up. Men take better care of yourselves, please.

Andropause profile: Low Testosterone/High Estrogen. Estrogen is not just in female bodies, men need it too, in smaller amounts to regulate brain function and stimulate sexual function. In andropause, estrogen can overtake waning testosterone to complicate symptoms and raise the risk of prostate cancer. Remembers those SHBG's I mentioned? Well, when they bind up the testosterone it activates an enzyme in fat cells that changes testosterone into more estrogen!

What can you do, you ask? Work with your health care professional to monitor hormone levels. Supplement with the highest natural bioavailable vitamin/mineral, antioxidant nutrition program. Reduce Testosterone Robbers: caffeine, alcohol, and sugars. Go organic eat hormone free meats if you are a meat eater. Hit the sack earlier.

Okay guys, that's a start, there is much more. Until next time.

Wanting the best of health, wealth and happiness for you always.

In Harmony, Love and Light

I AM Shifa!

Today I want to take some time and touch on a topic that is up for some debate. The use of IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) in the use of breast cancer. First off, it is probably important to explain exactly what IMRT is and what it does.

  IMRT is like painting with radiation. As you can see in this picture of Einstein, which was made by a linear accelerator, using IMRT to do so. It allows the physician and dosimetrist to create a plan that allows us to deliver a high amount of radiation to the areas that are very important to get a radiation dose to, such as the lumpectomy cavity, and then to decrease and limit the amount of radiation exposure to normal and critical organs, such as the lung or the heart on a left sided breast cancer. In the example above, the darker areas would be those exposed to more radiation, and the lighter areas received less amounts of radiation. You can see how precise this can be when done correctly.

Know that we know what IMRT is, and a simplistic definition of what its purpose is set to accomplish, I think it is now appropriate to take a closer look at IMRT for Breast Cancer. The traditional or standard or care for breast radiation is a 3D plan typically consisting of two tangential fields. It may look something like this:

As you can see in the above picture, there would be a field that comes from the upper left hand side, and entering the patient, and another field that would be coming from the bottom right hand side and then entering the patient as well. Since this is a left sided breast cancer, you can also that there is a small portion of lung (orange color) and heart (pink/magenta color) that is included in the treatment fields.

Since the breast tissue goes all the way down to a patients chest wall, or for simplicities sake, rib cage, there has traditionally been about 1.5 to 2.0cm of lung included in most physicians breast plans. This is to ensure that all of the breast tissue is being included in the radiation field, and that even with the motion of patient breathing, that the breast is always targeted with the radiation that is being administered to the patient.

In this slide above, you can see the difference between a breast IMRT plan (Left) and a conventional "standard of care" plan on the right. If you pay close attention to the images on the right hand side, you will notice the arrows pointing towards the areas labeled hot spots. This is the one down fall with conventional, or tradition breast radiation. The radiation is trying to be delivered to a large area of tissue, and trying to deliver and dose that is the same through out. Unfortunately, we all know that breast tissue is not a nice little box that is the same size in all directions.

Due to this factor alone, there tends to be these hot spots in the areas of breast tissue that happen to be thicker, have more tissue overlapping itself, such as underneath the breast tissue and next to the rib cage of a woman, or perhaps where there is not enough breast tissue. We then try to "compensate" for this difference in breast tissue with the use of a device that we call a "wedge".

 From this picture you can see that it does look like one would think, like a wedge of metal. It is placed in the machine and will try to help and compensate for the differences in breast tissue for a specific patient. Unfortunately, it isn't a perfect world and there are only so many things that wedges allow physicians to manipulate the radiation beam in order to make it more precise in treating the breast. It does not allow us to eliminate or diminish hot spots as drastically as IMRT.

In these instances, patients may end up having some skin reddening or even experience the skin breaking down and in some situations, a severe burn and weeping of the skin happens.

The above photo happens to be a more severe case of what a patient may experience. As I said, not all patients experience a case to this extreme, but I think the point and case is made that there is an increase in radiation delivered to some of these areas of the breast that do not need that much radiation, and with that, comes some unnecessary skin reactions that a woman should not have to go through if at all possible.

This is where IMRT comes into play.

IMRT is made up of many tiny little beams about the size of a pencil referred to as beam-lets. These beam-lets can be thought of like an older dot matrix printer. In using all of these small little numerous beam-lets, to form one larger beam, it allows the physician and the dosimetrist to develop a highly conformal and precise delivery of radiation to the patients.

Again in this picture you can see the difference between the two plans. The one of your left is the typical conventional plan and the one on your right is the IMRT plan. You can see first hand how the IMRT plan on the right allows the radiation oncology team to focus the field more intensely on the tumor area itself and limit the dose to nearly normal tissues.

In order to accomplish this, the physician needs to plan ahead and really think through his outcome that he ideally would like for the patient. The physician will have to look at all the scans, and then actually sit down at a computer and contour, or draw over all of the breast tissue that he wants to be treated. He will then also need to draw other areas of interest that he may want to avoid, such as the lung or the heart if a left sided breast cancer. At times physicians will also make sure to draw a seperate area around the lumpectomy cavity, where the tumor was removed. This is to make sure that this area received a bit more radiation then the rest of the breast tissue. The rationale is that close to 85% of the time if a patient is going to recur, its going to be locally at the sight where the original tumor was located.

Once this is all done, the computer is then put to work to develop a plan that will achieve all of the physicians desired outcomes and taking into consideration the limitations that the physician also wants to consider. For example, the physician wants the entire Breast to be treated to a dose of 50.4cGy, and wants the lumpectomy area to get a bit more radiation, and go to a dose of 60.4cGy. Perhaps the physician wants to limit the amount of radiation to the heart to less then 10% of the total dose, and wants there to be no hot spots greater then 5mm in any dimension. The computer takes all of this into consideration, and the dosimetrist helps to maneuver the plan in order to get the outcomes that the physician wants for his patient.

What happens is that a plan is generated that allows little deposits of varying doses to be places all along the breast tissue in order to achieve the type of outcome and plan that the physician would ideally like for his patient. It may look something like this:

In this view, you can see the different columns are at different heights. This represents the amounts of radiation being deposited in any one particular area of the breast tissue. The largest columns may be right at the original sight of where the tumor was located. The area that is the shortest in height may be at the underside of the breast, where a skin reaction is most likely to occur. In doing this, it allows the radiation to be "painted" onto different areas within the breast tissue at different intensities.

So why is all of this important and why do we need Breast IMRT?

1. More conformal dose to the Breast: The natural taper of the breast produces hot spots in ranges of 3% to 20%. Even with the use of wedges, these hot spots are still very noticeable and can still produce some substantial side effects for patients. IMRT can drastically reduce these hot spots.

2. Lower dose to the Heart and Lungs: Dose is fairly low in all cases on left sided breast cancers, however, with the use of IMRT the dose that is administered to the heart and lung can be lowered even more. In one study done abroad, it was shown that the dose to the left lung and ventricle could be reduced to less than 500cGy, or less then 10% of the prescription dose. In patients that have pre-existing conditions such as Congestive Heart Failure or decreased lung function, this improvement can be drastically significant in their overall health.

3. Lower dose to the opposite breast: In some recent data published be a group from the Netherlands and presented at ASCO, they took a look at 999 women that were previously treated for Breast Cancer. What they saw was that in women ages 40 years and younger, that they had an increase risk of developing Breast Cancer in their opposite breast by as much as 60%. IMRT can drastically reduce the amount of radiation being deposited to the opposite, or unaffected breast in comparison to the scatter radiation it typically receives from conventional methods.

4. Field with in a field: The fact that IMRT allows physicians to increase the amount of radiation being deposited in a certain area means that a patient can receive their overall breast radiation as well as their boost to the tumor site at the same time. This decreases the overall number of times that a patient has to come in for their radiation treatments. This can be a bit more convenient for patients.

As always, if you or a loved one have any other questions, comments, or concerns; if you would like more information in regards to another cancer related topic, please contact me at: CANCERGEEK@GMAIL.COM or CANCERGEEK@CANCERGEEK.COM

~CancerGeek

With the month of October being National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we tend to see lots of specials on TV, on the news, radio, or even at local events talking about the importance of awareness. We hear statistics and figures on women, the likelihood for developing Breast Cancer, the prognosis, even new research and rugs that have been recently approved for use in the medical field. We learn about the importance of early screening and detection, and the annual push to get your mammograms done.

Yet there is one thing that we forget to talk about, or maybe it is too taboo to talk about in plain sight for everyone to read and learn about, Male Breast Cancer. That's right, its not just a disease that affects women, but men can develop the disease too. In fact, we all hear about the genetic disposition that occurs in about 10% of all women diagnosed with Breast Cancer, the expression of BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 genes. Men can carry this gene as well, and if they do, their chances for developing Breast Cancer can be just as high as women.

In the US there have been approximately 2030 cases of Male Breast Cancer. Of those 2030 cases, there have been about 450 deaths as well, this is according to the NCI data. (NCI:MEN) Of course, this only makes up about 1% of all cases of Breast Cancer, but yet, it is still important for us to realize that this disease can strike men as well.

Typically this type of Breast Cancer will develop in men around the ages of 60 and 70. Some of the signs and symptoms are much like that in women. It is important for men to think about noticing changes in their breasts, or if it is safer to say, Pecs, but to notice any slight changes. Men will typically notice a lump just like a woman does in Female Breast Cancer.

Another common change is something that we call: Gynecomastia.

This refers to the increase in the amount of Breast Tissue present in a male. This does not necessarily mean that it increases your risk for developing breast cancer. It does however represent that there is an increase in the amount of Estrogen that is present in a man's body. As we have learned from some of my other articles, an increase in Estrogen in the body may lead to someone developing Breast Cancer. This holds true for men as well.

 If Breast Cancer happens to be discovered in a male, then he should undergo similar testing that a female would go through as well. This would include a physical exam by a physician to see if there is any palpable lump noticed in the Breast Tissue. If it happens to be something of concern, then a man should also be ordered to have a mammogram, ultrasound, and biopsy as well to give confirmation that it is in fact Breast Cancer, and what stage of cancer it is.

Some other important factors to keep in mind in regards to Male Breast Cancer: If a man is in a family that happens to have a high number of relatives that have developed Breast Cancer, of if they know that their family is a carrier of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, that they may want to consider a consultation with a medical professional that specializes in Genetics. This will help to see if one is at an increase risk for developing Breast Cancer, or for that matter, any other type of cancer. Men with a known family history of Breast Cancer and a mutation in the BRCA genes are typically also at an increase risk for developing Prostate Cancer as well.

Other risk factors for men include increased levels of Estrogen, alcohol use, obesity, cirrhosis of the liver, and Klinefelter Syndrome. A history of Radiation Therapy to the chest may also increase the chances for a male developing Breast Cancer as well.

In the US, the chances for Breast Cancer developing in African American Men is slightly higher then it is in Caucasian Males. Internationally, there is a high incidence for Male Breast Cancer in countries such as Uganda and Zambia. In contrast, in Asian Countries, there seems to be the lowest number of Male Breast Cancer Cases.

Due to the lack in numbers of men with Breast Cancer it has been hard for the medical community to conclude as to what all of the risk factors are, and what the cause has been for the slight and steady increase that has been seen over the last couple of years. Since the numbers are so small, most of the research has been conducted on small retrospective cases or from extrapolating data from Female Breast Cancer studies. Due to this factor, it is also unrealistic for any one institution to conduct a prospective clinical trial into the best treatment option for men with Breast Cancer.

The treatment option of choice for most men with Breast Cancer has been mastectomy.

As always, if you or a loved one have any other questions, comments, or concerns; if you would like more information in regards to another cancer related topic, please contact me at: CANCERGEEK@GMAIL.COM or CANCERGEEK@CANCERGEEK.COM

~CancerGeek

Health supplements, vitamins, anti aging, etc.

nutritional supplements
health supplements
prostate health
discount vitamin
cheap supplements