‘Awareness helps women fight breast cancer better than men’

The Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), the country’s premier cancer treatment and research centre, is studying how women are able to fight breast cancer better than men.

In the backdrop of higher mortality rate in male breast cancer, a rare type of cancer that forms 1% of breast cancer cases, it’s been found that women do much better owing to more awareness and early diagnosis. While the trend in men breast cancer patients has been steady, oncologists said men don’t know much when it comes to breast cancer as

that spreading awareness and alerting men about it hasn’t been given a thought ” said Dr Rajen

For every 225 women diagnosed with breast cancer at TMC in a year around 10 men receive

ever, mortality rate in men remains high, due to delay in diagnosis Incidence wise one

tion of one lakh when it comes to breast cancer in men.

“Despite the rare occurrence important that they are educated about the symptoms of the disease. Breast cancer in men is typically more aggressive as compared to women. In men, it is usually detected as a hard lump underneath the nipple and areola (ring of pigmented skin surrounding a nipple),” said Dr P Jagannath, oncologist at Fortis’ S.L Raheja Hospital, Mahim.

Oncologists from TMC are now trying to locate the scientific causes behind why men lag in coping with cancer. “Not just breast cancer but in all the cancers, women generally do better than men when it comes to fighting back. Exactly why we are trying to find out the reasons behind