Matthew Knowles is a university lecturer, record executive, and businessman. However, he’s most known for managing Destiny’s Child, Beyonce, and Solange Knowles at different points in their careers. He’s also the founder of Music World Entertainment, which focuses on children’s, gospel, and country music.
In 2019, he announced on ‘Good Morning America’ that he’d been diagnosed with Stage 1A breast cancer. After this diagnosis, he did surgery to remove the affected breast and carried out genetic tests. These tests revealed that he had the BRCA2 gene mutation that increased his risk of developing breast cancer. When writing about his experience a year later, Knowles noted that he would have handled his health differently if he’d known more about breast cancer in men.
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What Is Breast Cancer?
In breast cancer, some cells in the breast grow out of control. While it’s more common in women, it’s estimated that 1 in 100 Americans who are diagnosed with breast cancer are men. When the numbers were broken down further, it was found that Black men are 52 percent more likely to be diagnosed with the disease than other ethnicities.
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There’s a lot that doctors still don’t know about what causes breast cancer but some of the risk factors include having a family history of breast cancer, being obese, having cirrhosis of the liver, and having Klinefelter's syndrome. You’re also more likely to develop breast cancer as you age.
If you’re dealing with breast cancer, a few of the symptoms you can expect include the nipple turning inwards, a hard, painless lump in the breast, a rash on the breast that doesn’t go away, nipple discharge, and thickening skin around the nipple.
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Male Vs. Female Breast Cancer
There are two reasons why breast cancer is more common in females than males, MedicalNewsToday notes:
Breast development and anatomy. According to the American Cancer Society, males typically have low levels of hormones that cause milk ducts and lobules to grow, and as a result, the breast tissue does not grow as much. Although male breasts have ducts, they only have a few lobules and mainly consist of fat tissue.
Estrogen levels. The more that cells divide, the more chance there is of cancer occurring. BreastCancer.org notes that breast cells in females are highly active and receptive to estrogen, while breast cells in males are inactive and not exposed to high estrogen levels.
According to the American Cancer Society, male-specific risk factors include:
- Klinefelter syndrome: Males with this syndrome are born with an extra X chromosome and have higher estrogen levels compared with other males. As a result, they can develop gynecomastia, which is the growth of breast tissue in males. This syndrome can increase the chance of developing breast cancer by 20–60 timesTrusted Source.
- Genetic mutations: Mutations in the CHEK2, PTEN, and PALB2 genes can lead to breast cancer in males.
- Testicular conditions: These include having an undescended testicle, having one or more testicles surgically removed, or having mumps as an adult. Mumps can lead to a decrease in the size of the testicle.
Risk factors for females
According to the American Cancer Society, female-specific risk factors include:
- Being female: Females have a much higher rate of getting breast cancer than males.
- Menstrual factors: According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, starting menstruation before age 12 and beginning menopause after 55 are breast cancer risk factors.
- Reproductive factors: Giving birth for the first time at an older age or never giving birth increases the risk.
- Dense breast tissue: The ACS notes that lumps can be more difficult to detect in females than males since female breast tissue tends to be denser.
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RELATED: Black History of Health: Solange Knowles
How The Condition Is Diagnosed
Diagnosing breast cancer in men can take a similar track to what happens in women. The first thing your doctor will do is a physical examination of your breast to determine if there are any abnormal growths. Depending on the result of this examination, you may need to undergo imaging tests such as an ultrasound, a mammogram, or an X-ray.
Your doctor may also request a biopsy of the growth so the tissue can be assessed in more detail. The sample will let your doctor know which cells are involved in the growth, how aggressive the cancer cells are, as well as if any hormone receptors are present.
The results of your biopsy may also trigger more extensive tests like a bone scan, computerized tomography (CT) scan, or positron emission tomography (PET) scan. All this information will help your doctor finalize the stage and nature of the disease. While the most common kinds of breast cancer in men are invasive ductal carcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ, those aren’t the only options.
How Breast Cancer Is Treated
There are several treatment options for breast cancer in men so your doctor will choose your regimen based on your diagnosis. Hormone therapy is usually the first choice if your cancer has estrogen receptors. However, if you don’t respond to hormone therapy, your doctor might recommend radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or targeted therapy instead. These therapies all have different side effects so it will be important to discuss these with your doctor so they can give you a plan to manage them.
The final treatment route is surgery and this is used to remove cancerous cells from specific parts of the body. Generally, a surgeon will remove tissue from the breast and the glands under the armpit. Your nipple and some muscle may also be removed.
Though breast cancer is considered rare in men, it can still affect a decent number of the population. This is especially true for Black Americans. If you’ve experienced any of the symptoms listed above, it’s critical that you consult your doctor as soon as possible.
