Doctor advises men do go for monthly breast cancer check-up


Two Abuja-based medical doctors have advised men to also go for monthly breast cancer check-up, warning that men also have breast cancer. The doctors told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja in separate interviews, that if breast cancer among men was not detected early it could spread to other parts of the body. They spoke on the sidelines of activities to commemorate the Breast Cancer Awareness Month celebrated globally in October of every year.

Dr Ogugua Osi-Ogbu, a Physician at National Hospital Abuja, said that breast cancer could occur in men as the case with women. According to her, breast cancer disease which begins in the breast tissue requires regular body check-up for early detection and treatment.

“If you have a family member who has had breast cancer your chances of developing breast cancer would be higher.
“Alcohol and tobacco also known as casino genes could cause change in normal cells to become cancerous in the body. “People who indulge in excessive intake of alcohol and tobacco are at increased risk of cancers which is capable of shortening their life span. ” She observed that the disease could also occur as a result of failure to do regular body check

However, the doctor advised people, particularly men, to engage in self breast-examination to guard against the disease.

“We talk about breast cancer mainly in women but we do see breast cancer in men as well because they also have breast issue. “It is just not as common as what we find in women; in women we are finding more and more cases that are coming at a late stage, especially in this environment.

“People are not in the habit of doing self-check or even the yearly check that we recommend; there is appropriate approach to do this breast exam. “For the men you can examine your breast, if you want to do it once a month or once in a week as you are dressing up, take a quick glance on your breast, does anything look different? “So that once a lump is picked up early the chance of cure and survival is much higher than waiting till the late stage of the disease. “So a self-examination is very important and then doing your yearly at your doctor’s office too would be a part of that examination; that your breast is examined.”

Osi-Ogbu noted that lack of awareness on breast cancer among men hindered the self-examination practice and suggested the establishment of law to earmark international health days to proffer solution. “Being able to showcase men who have actually had breast cancer would be one very good strategy to sensitise people to the need to imbibe good health practice and ensure healthy citizenry.”

In a separate interview, Dr Louis Obak, a Surgeon at Garki Hospital in the FCT, said that lack of attention of breast check examination by men was capable of increasing their exposure to the disease.

According to him, only 10 out of 100 men can survive the consequences of having the disease.He said that people who were obese were more prone to having breast cancer than those who were not, advising men to always imbibe the practice of breast check examination.

“Men when they hear breast cancer don’t even want to pay attention; what a woman discovers early in the breast; a man might not clearly discover that change in breast. “Like women they check, a woman can once in a while squeeze her nipple to see if something is coming out but men don’t do that. “Those that are obese might get the chance of coming down with the disease because they don’t check it."

(NAN)

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