A symposium on breast treatment comprising medical experts from across the country identifies breast cancer for men as a growing concern since most of them shy away from being tested.
The precision treatment conference for doctors is taking place at the Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) as the world marks the breast cancer awareness month.
Dr Abeid Athman, head of oncology department at KUTRRH said that most men seek treatment late because they are shy and afraid of the stigma. Since they don’t seek help early, this makes the disease management very challenging.
The medic noted that even though men rarely contract the malady they too are prone to being affected and therefore should go for screening for early detection.
He averred that breast cancer in men spreads faster than in women due to the size of the breast.
“Men breasts are small in size which makes cancer to spread faster to other organs. Cases of men contracting breast cancer are usually serious and that’s why we are advising them to seek screening for early detection which is very vital,” he noted.
While noting that the cancer scourge is the third leading cause of death after infectious and cardiovascular diseases, Dr Athman said that early diagnosis, treatment and emotional support from the society is imperative in reducing the mortality rate.
“Breast cancer has been claiming over 3000 lives in a month followed by cervical, esophageal, colorectal and prostate cancers. We should focus our resources on early screening, diagnosis, treatment to save lives. We are urging our people to not just wait for symptoms but go for early screening,” he said.
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However, the oncologist said the prevalence is still low for men at 1 percent nationally, but at KUTRRH, it is quite high at 5 percent which is higher than the global standards, an incidence he attributed to cases referred there from other medical facilities.
As for women breast cancer cases, Dr Athman noted that 45 percent of African females aged below 45 are diagnosed with breast cancer compared to 5 to 10 percent of their peers in Europe and the US.
According to the medical experts attending the symposium, breast cancer for men, just like women, is treatable when diagnosed early and may not necessarily lead to death.
Prof Daniel Ojuka, a breast surgeon and associate professor at University of Nairobi attributed the rise in breast cancer cases to lifestyles like smoking and consumption of alcohol.
“Alcohol consumption is a risk factor as well as smoking. For every unit of alcohol consumed the chances of getting breast cancer are between 1 and 7 percent whereas smoking interferes with the endocrine system in the body or the estrogens which increases chances of getting the disease,” Prof Ojuka explained.
However, he pointed out that whereas the majority of new cancer cases are genetic, changes in lifestyles can help minimize infections, including early detection or testing, diet and physical exercises.
The hospital chief executive officer Dr Zainab Gura who officially opened the three-day conference said the occasion offers specialists a chance to discuss the cutting-edge technology and innovations in treatment and management of breast cancer which is the leading form of cancers in Kenya.
She observed that most of the patients die because of late diagnosis and emphasized the need for awareness creation and early testing of breast cancer.
Dr Gura also explained that while breast cancer treatment is covered by the Social Health Authority the facility will be offering free screening, mammography tests and biopsy for women as part of the breast cancer awareness activities.
By John Kamau
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