Men can also get breast cancer

Recent data from the World Health Organisation indicates that the five most common cancers in men are lung, prostate, colorectum, stomach and liver cancer.

While breast cancer is not highlighted as one of those besieging men, there are reported cases of men who go through this and with October being “Breast Cancer awareness month”, men are being called upon to seek regular checkups and shun the myth that this particular cancer only afflicts women.

Breast cancer is a malignant tumour that develops in the cells of the breast. A malignant tumour is a group of cancer cells that can invade surrounding tissues or spread to distant areas of the body.

According to a study released four months ago dubbed ‘The Global Burden of Cancer 2013’; breast cancer continues to account for the highest number of new cancer cases among women, however, everyone - male or female, is born with some breast cells and tissue that have the possibility to develop into cancer.

Take the case of 65-year-old Paul Ondere who has so far spent Sh18 million treating breast cancer that was diagnosed sometime in 2013.

Ever since he was informed that he is suffering from the disease, the former teacher of Kima Primary School in Vihiga County has not known peace of mind.

Ondere tells us he started experiencing “weird” symptoms of fatigue that he did not understand and before he could figure out what was going on, he started having an itchiness on the left side of his chest.

The itch grew into a wound that appeared to get deeper and deeper. Concerned, he decided to seek help at Port Florence hospital.

“Several blood tests were done at Port Florence, then they referred me to Lancet located in Kisumu where I was linked with a consultant. I went and did confirmatory chest and abdominal tests and that is when I learnt that I had breast cancer,” he says.

Seeking a second opinion, the consultant from Lancet referred Ondere to an oncologist in Nairobi who referred him to another oncologist consultant called Dr Eliud Njuguna.

“Once again, a second confirmatory test was done and it came back positive for cancer. I also got to learn that the cancer had already spread to my stomach,” he says.

Ondere was then referred to Nairobi Hospital where he underwent six chemotherapy sessions with help from relatives and friends who conducted several fundraisers in a bid to save his life.

“I went for another 10 sessions of radiotherapy and some of the specimen was taken to South Africa for further tests. The doctors said treating breast cancer in men is more difficult because unlike women who experience a lump, in men the cancer forms a deep wound,” he says.

Even after completion of the sessions, Ondere continued to take a bone booster and would still get injections and drugs that he is supposed to take for the next five years.

Just when it appeared like all was clear, the cancer recurred in April this year and Ondere was re-admitted this time at Avenue Hospital in Nairobi. His condition deteriorated and he had to stay in the hospital for 15 days as they attached a tube to get rid of water that had accumulated in his lungs.

Once again, he began the chemotherapy sessions and was told he has to go through seven of them, but finances have become an obstacle.

“I have gone through four sessions and have three left which I do not know if I can afford. I have already used about Sh18million and those who have sacrificed to see me receive treatment can no longer do so,” he says.

The elderly man sadly represents the reality faced by many cancer sufferers that this disease lies silent in the body for a long time only to explode and becoming a costly illness to address.

According to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital Consultant Surgeon Dr Dedan Ongong’a, screening for all cancers is key and men especially need to have their breasts checked.

“Men also have ducts, although they are usually under developed, and they too need screening just like women. Those with wounds or swellings on the breast area should immediately seek medical advice,” he says.