With more than 200 cancer types identified, a male breast cancer survivor finds five to ponder.
PUBLISHED January 29, 2018
Khevin Barnes is a Male Breast Cancer survivor, magician and speaker. He is currently writing, composing and producing a comedy stage musical about Male Breast Cancer Awareness. He travels wherever he is invited to speak to (and do a little magic for) men and women about breast cancer. www.BreastCancerSpeaker.com www.MaleBreastCancerSurvivor.com
Why do more men get cancer than women? And why do boys get cancer more often than girls? The American Cancer Society reports that half of all men get cancer at some time in their lives compared to about one third of women.
And so, I'd like to discuss male cancers for a moment, and not simply because I'm a guy, but because there are many forms of cancer that are gender-specific and these five are the ones that I am most likely to develop in addition to the male breast cancer that I already have. In fact, according to the National Breast Cancer Association, men with a genetic predisposition to breast cancer are also at higher risk of getting prostate cancer at a younger age.
But when it comes to surviving and finding a cure one day, I try to remember that there's no good reason to tag the disease with a male or female identity. In my view, cancer is cancer no matter the gender. I've always been color blind (I'm not kidding about this) so pink or blue is a distraction for me – a division that only serves to dilute the worldwide quest to find a cure. A cure for every cancer. A cure for all of us.
And so, I'd like to discuss male cancers for a moment, and not simply because I'm a guy, but because there are many forms of cancer that are gender-specific and these five are the ones that I am most likely to develop in addition to the male breast cancer that I already have. In fact, according to the National Breast Cancer Association, men with a genetic predisposition to breast cancer are also at higher risk of getting prostate cancer at a younger age.
But when it comes to surviving and finding a cure one day, I try to remember that there's no good reason to tag the disease with a male or female identity. In my view, cancer is cancer no matter the gender. I've always been color blind (I'm not kidding about this) so pink or blue is a distraction for me – a division that only serves to dilute the worldwide quest to find a cure. A cure for every cancer. A cure for all of us.
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