Breast cancer cases among men are on rise. As per the American Cancer Society estimation, around 2,350 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in 2015 in comparison to around 2,350 in women. It is estimated that 440 men will die of breast cancer this year.

Lynda Weeks, executive director of Susan G. Komen Louisville, said that generally men are diagnosed with cancer at a later stage. Dr. Janell Seeger, a medical oncologist with the Norton Cancer Institute, was of the view that though breast cancer in men remains rare, the number is on rise. As per reports, there has been up to 26% rise over the last 25 years.

Seeger said that there is lesser number of breast tissues present in men that can make it easier to detect small masses. On the other hand, less number of tissues means cancer will not grow far to reach the nipple, the skin, chest muscles or lymph nodes. Therefore, by the time cancer is detected it has already spread to other areas of the body.

Some risk factors of breast cancer in men are aging, a family history of breast cancer, radiation exposure, heavy alcohol use, estrogen treatment, certain testicular conditions or obesity. Experts said that treatment and survival rates are almost the same for men as for women.

“We have tons of data on how to treat women. The treatment recommendations from those studies seem to be very appropriate to men. We do mammograms and an ultrasound, then a biopsy — just like we do in women”, said Seeger.

“The sad part about it is men don’t talk about it,” Kim Campbell said. “Hugh has been very verbal from day one. He loves that people ask him questions. Men don’t want to think that they have a woman’s disease. They just don’t talk about it.”

“I challenge men, when they see the pink ribbon, to not just put it in the category of my mom, my wife, my sister, my aunt,” she said. “They need to know that it can happen to them.”