Neil Macrae, a popular B.C. sportscaster, battled multiple bouts of cancer before succumbing to the disease in 2017. His initial diagnosis, however, was the most shocking, his family says. Macrae had breast cancer.
Two years following her husband’s death, Laurie Rix is sharing her husband’s story in hopes that it empowers others to become champions of their own health.
In partnership with BC Cancer Foundation, we look at the stigma surrounding male breast cancer and describe why it’s important for men to watch for signs of the disease.
A rare disease
Male breast cancer is rare, accounting for less than one per cent of the estimated 26,000 cases of breast cancer diagnosed annually in Canada.
In 2019, approximately 220 men are expected to be diagnosed with the disease, and of those an estimated 60 men will eventually die from it.
Male breast cancer often presents as a lump or thickening in the breast which may be ignored by a man who is not aware that he can get breast cancer.
Research shows that men are more likely to delay seeking treatment, which results in a higher stage of disease at the time of diagnosis and often a higher mortality rate.
Macrae wasn’t even aware breast cancer could even affect men, Rix, recalls. Over the course of several months a lump in his breast grew to the size of a golf ball; at that point he showed it to his wife.
“From a woman’s perspective it was quite alarming,” she says. “I thought it was a cyst or something like that,” she says. “Our GP wasn’t overly concerned but did refer him on to have an ultrasound just to check it out. The radiologist picked up on it right away that it was breast cancer.”
He had a mastectomy and eventually won his battle with breast cancer, but went on to face two other forms of cancer and succumbed to the disease in 2017.
Rix recalls the moment when Macrae eventually told his close friends about his diagnosis explaining that each person thought it would was prostate cancer given his age and gender.
“Every time he’d say, ‘No, no, it’s not that. It’s breast cancer.’ There would be a silence on the other end of the phone because nobody could believe it, they’d be in complete shock,” she says.
“We kept a really tight lid on it and it wasn’t until after he passed away…that his family decided he would want something good to come of out of his breast cancer, such as awareness that the disease can affect men, too,” Rix says. “He would be okay with that information being made public.”
Changing public perception
Rix believes people remain unaware of the male breast cancer because of how rare the disease is, but also because society tends to look at male and female breasts differently.
“Men can walk around with their shirts off in the summer,” she begins. “They aren’t such a sexual part of their anatomy. There doesn’t seem to be any conversation about it at all, but the fact that male breast cancer is a possibility is an important issue we should talk about.”
According to Vancouver oncologist Dr. Karen Gelmon, who treated Macrae, the famed sportscaster wasn’t her first male breast cancer patient and he certainly won’t be her last.
“What’s important for men to know is if they get a new mass on their breast, if they get swelling, a crusting on their nipple or blood coming from their nipple, they should go to their doctor,” she says.
“Nine times out of 10 it won’t be anything to worry about, but every so often it will be, so that makes a visit worthwhile.”
A universal treatment
Breast cancer can affect anyone, but the chances of developing it increases if a number of family members also have the illness, Dr. Gelmon says.
Once Macrae was diagnosed and tested, he was found positive for the BRCA-2 gene mutation which has been scientifically linked to an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
Dr. Gelmon reveals that only about 10 per cent of breast cancers in men and women are related to gene mutations inherited from their mother or father, so it’s equally important to consider the whole family tree to see if there have been repeated cases of people being diagnosed with cancer, particularly young people, on one side of the family.
Regardless of sex, the disease is treated the same way in men and women. That can include surgery, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, or radiation therapy. In all cases, the earlier the diagnosis, the higher chance for a positive outcome.
“Similar to women, the prognosis depends on the stage and the response to treatment,” Dr. Gelmon adds. “If you diagnose a male breast cancer at an early stage, it should have a very good prognosis. If you diagnose it at a later stage, then the prognosis might be less good.”
“If there’s anything good that can come out of Neil’s death, it would be that the stigma is removed and that men are comfortable going to their doctors saying that they have a funny lump in one of their breasts and they want it checked out,” Rix says.
“They might feel embarrassed or think it’s strange, but it’s not. It’s your body and you could save your life by getting it checked out sooner rather than waiting.”
To learn more, visit BC Cancer Foundation.