More than 200 men a year in Britain are diagnosed with breast cancer. Every 12 months, 90 men die from a disease which many are not even aware they are at risk from.
Because of widespread ignorance about the disease too many men are seeking help too late.
Survival rates after five years range from around 50 per cent among those diagnosed at an advanced stage, to 85 and 90 percent among malignancies caught early.
Professor Ian Fentiman, professor of surgical oncology at Guy's Hospital, whose specialities include breast cancer says the survival rates among men and women with breast cancer are about the same but that the average length of symptoms before a man goes to see his doctor is about 18 months in men, while for a woman it is one to two months.
Breast Cancer Care operates a freephone advice service for men and women employing specialist counsellors.
A small number of male breast cancers may be linked to genetic inheritance. Smoking, alcohol, obesity and exposure to electromagnetic energy fields have also been suggested, without confirmation.
Up to 95pc of male breast cancers are first seen by doctors at a stage where they are firm lumps. Other signs can include localised tenderness, discharge, skin ulceration and nipple retraction or inversion.
Treatment is almost identical for men and women. The main procedure is surgery with a mastectomy and, if necessary, removal of the lymph gland. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy may also be offered, and psychological counselling is available too.
For those who catch the disease at an early stage the outlook is good. The greatest danger for men is that they don't realise it could happen to them. If men don't realise that they could get breast cancer they will ignore the symptoms. The longer you leave it, the worse it can be.
Doctors and health campaigners are keen to see more health education to alert men to the dangers. In a report in the latest issue of the British Journal of Surgery, a team at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota called for more publicity and said better health education was needed to improve the outlook of men with breast cancer.
Men need to be aware that when they get a breast lump it needs to be checked and they must not think they can't get breast cancer. People should not die of ignorance.