It’s Male Breast Cancer Awareness Week and breast cancer charity Walk the Walk is celebrating seven years of raising awareness that Men Get Breast Cancer Too.
Following the success of the Men Get Breast Cancer Too campaign, charities across the UK now regularly feature men as an integral part of their awareness campaigns and include the following important information:
- Male breast cancer affects between 370 – 400 men a year in the UK
- Over 80 men a year die from breast cancer due to not knowing men can get this type of cancer, and not doing regular checks
- Breast cancer usually affects men aged 50 and over, but it can be found in men of any age
- The diagnosis of breast cancer in men, as well as the treatment, is very similar to that for women
Mark Winter (59) from Eastbourne is part of the Men Get Breast Cancer Too campaign and was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2020: “My message to men is to not only check ‘below’, but to check ‘above’ too and don’t be frightened if you find something.
“Proportionally, more men die of breast cancer because they’ve ignored the problem and not done anything about it. My own diagnosis was a hell of a shock, but that phone call I made to my doctor’s was probably the best one of my life.”