Finding Purpose Amid Health Challenges
- Music mogul and father of singer Beyonce, Matthew Knowles, 72, is a male breast cancer advocate and never shies away from raising awareness of the disease that accounts for one percent of breast cancer diagnoses, according to Yale Medicine.
- Symptoms of male breast cancer can include a lump in the chest or a thickening in the breast tissue, nipple pain, an inverted nipple, discharge from the nipple, which may be clear or bloody, changes to the color or texture of the nipple, and enlarged lymph nodes under the arm.
- Experts say that treating male breast cancer is largely the same as female breast cancer. While men have some special considerations, treatment options depend greatly on various factors, including the size of the tumor, how far the cancer cells have spread, and biological and genetic factors that may be powering your cancer.
Singer-songwriter Beyonce Knowles’ father, Matthew, 72, was among the one percent of breast cancer diagnoses that occur annually when he was diagnosed in 2019. He’s using his platform not just to bring awareness to the disease but also the BRCA gene mutation, which increases your cancer risk, impacting both sexes.
“My goal was to let others like me know about cancer risk to improve prevention,” Knowles told Alabama-based newspaper The Gadsden Messenger.
“I was getting ready for bed, and I took off my white T-shirt, and I saw five dots on it,” Knowles said on the podcast.
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He thought his wife had bought him new shirts. However, when he brought the red droplets to her attention, she said she had also noticed the red spots on the sheets days earlier.
What Knowles was experiencing was nipple discharge, a symptom of breast cancer.
“I convinced my doctor I need a mammogram,” Knowles said. He later discovered he was a carrier of the “BRCA” mutation.
Knowles was diagnosed with stage 1a breast cancer. He says he is thankful he discovered his cancer early and was able to avoid intense cancer treatment.
Knowles will be a keynote speaker at the “After Breast Cancer Gala” at the end of September to shed more light on his cancer journey.
WATCH: Men Get Breast Cancer Too
Knowles’ Family History of Cancer
Knowles previously shared with SurvivorNet that he was aware of his family’s history with cancer before he was diagnosed.
“In my family, my mother’s sister died of breast cancer, and two of her three daughters died of breast cancer,” Knowles said.
“Let me tell you why it’s important to know you have a higher risk. Because there are three things you can do to minimize that risk: Diet, exercise, reduction of alcohol consumption,” Knowles continued.
Helping Patients Cope with a Breast Cancer Diagnosis
- Understanding a New Breast Cancer Diagnosis: An Introduction
- Acupuncture Promising for Pain Relief from Some Breast Cancer Treatment
- Advances in Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatments Over the Last Year Offer New Hope for Those Fighting
- Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Treatments To Consider
- It’s All About Awareness and Education — Why I Advocate for Male Breast Cancer
- Breast Cancer Drugs Are Rarely Tested in Male Patients — Now The FDA Wants to Fix That
Understanding Male Breast Cancer
Like women, men have breast tissue and can develop breast cancer. Breast cancer starts when cells in the breast start growing out of control, typically forming a tumor that’s felt as a lump.
A man’s risk of developing breast cancer may be higher if there’s a history of breast cancer in the family. Typically, male breast cancer manifests as lumps in the chest area. Factors like a patient’s race can impact the prognosis. Five types of standard treatment are used to treat breast cancer in men:
- Surgery for breast cancer in men mirrors the procedure in women. A modified radical mastectomy removes the whole breast with cancer. The result may involve removing the nipple, according to the National Cancer Institute.
- Chemotherapy involves cancer-killing drugs to prevent the cancer cells from growing. Chemo drugs are usually taken orally or intravenously.
- Hormone therapy removes hormones or blocks their ability to help cancer cells grow.
- In radiation therapy, high-energy beams such as X-rays are aimed at cancer cells to kill them.
- Targeted therapy treatment uses drugs designed to target specific cancer cells.
Questions for Your Doctor
If you are facing a breast cancer diagnosis, whether you’re a man or a woman, here are some questions you can ask your doctor to learn more about it.
- What kind of breast cancer do I have?
- Has the cancer spread to other parts of the body?
- What stage is my cancer in?
- What other tests should I seek to better understand the cancer before deciding on treatment?
- What are your treatment recommendations and their likely side effects?
- What other doctors can give me additional opinions?
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