Breast cancer is not just for women
Actor Richard Roundtree, who starred as Shaft in the 1971 movie, was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 51. A double mastectomy and chemo saved his life. Peter Criss, the KISS drummer, was 62 when he was diagnosed. “You don’t need boobs to get breast cancer,” is his message. And 84-year-old former NFL star Ernie Green was diagnosed at age 67 — when he went for a second opinion, after his regular doctor dismissed his concerns about a lump in his breast. They’re all lucky to have survived, because male breast cancer is usually diagnosed late — when it is more dangerous. Around 2,350 men are diagnosed in the U.S. with breast cancer annually, and 440 die from the disease.
At Cedars-sinai’s cancer center, the specialists recommend any man with a family history of early-onset female breast cancer, with more than one family member who has had female breast cancer, or if he is of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry get a genetic test to check if he is BRCA2 positive. So should guys who have had metastatic high- or very high-risk prostate cancer or who have already had breast cancer. Being BRCA2+ raises the risk of a man developing breast cancer from 0.1 percent to 7 percent — and boosts the risk for prostate and pancreatic cancer. And, if you have a painless lump, nipple discharge and/or an inverted or sore nipple, see an oncologist. Don’t assume, like Roundtree did initially, “women die from this, not men. How could I possibly have that?”
Take a shot
We now know the vaccines and boosters do their job — they give most people a solid shot at staying out of the hospital and not dying from the virus. One study found they reduced the risk of death from COVID-19 by 34 percent. Another found that folks age 65 and older with two vaccinations and a booster had an 88 percent lower risk of COVID-19 hospitalization.
I advocate the vaccines for kids as well. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisory committee recently said the COVID-19 shots from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax “should be added to the 2023 childhood and adult vaccination schedules” along with other routinely recommended inoculations. If that’s got you wondering about your youngest children, a study by the KIDCOVE Study Group published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that even 6-month-olds receive effective protection from their dose of the vaccine and don’t experience significant side effects.