Ross Broderick found the lump in his breast while showering and passed it off as a fatty cyst.

Why would he think any differently? Men don't get breast cancer, right?

Wrong.

"Breast cancer does occur in men," said Dr. Carol Scott-Conner, a professor of surgery at the University of Iowa. "For every 100 women diagnosed with breast cancer, one man will be diagnosed."

It was about two years ago when Broderick joined that select company.

"It was pretty obvious there was a lump there," the 72-year-old Dubuque resident said.

The lump still was there a month later.

"I mentioned it to my primary-care doctor," Broderick said. "He agreed there was something there, and asked if I wanted a local surgeon to take a look at it. He, too, thought it could be just a fatty tumor, but suggested I have a biopsy to make sure."

The lab report came back positive. Broderick visited a local surgeon for a second opinion, because he found the diagnosis difficult to believe.

"Gee, does it happen

1% and rising

The overall incidence of male breast cancer is around 1 percent of all breast cancers and is on the rise, according to a study published in the World Journal of Surgical Oncology. Former KISS drummer diagnosed with breast cancer Male breast cancer recently gained a high-profile spokesman. Peter Criss, the 63-year-old former drummer and original member of the rock band KISS, has been appearing on various media outlets discussing his diagnosis and successful treatment for the disease. "In 2008, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, but with early detection, my great doctor Alex Swistel and staff and the Lord above, I am cancer-free today," Criss wrote on his Web site. Criss reminds men they can get breast cancer, too. "Don't be afraid to let someone know if you have a lump," Criss wrote. "Do the right thing for you and your loved ones and get it checked. Man or woman, there is no discrimination with breast cancer." Erik Hogstrom

to men? I asked that question a couple times," Broderick said.

While breast cancer among men is less common than among women, it can be deadly. The American Cancer Society estimated there will be 1,910 new cases of male breast cancer in 2009, and about 440 American men will die this year from the disease.

"It is mostly in older men and most often it presents as a lump," Scott-Conner said. "If men see a little lump in their breast, they should have it checked out. Most lumps are benign, but you don't want to make that diagnosis yourself."

Broderick underwent a mammogram, an experience he described as embarrassing.

"That also proved positive," he said. I had another biopsy done locally and my son, who worked for the Mayo Clinic for 17 years, insisted that a tissue sample also be sent to Mayo. All samples were positive."

The prognosis for male breast cancer is the same as for breast cancer in women. However, undetected male breast cancer is often diagnosed at a more advanced stage, increasing the mortality risk.

"We might not see as many of the very early cancers, but the good news for men is there isn't a lot of tissue for a tumor to hide behind," Scott-Conner said. "Distortion of the nipple would happen more quickly than in women. It is treated pretty much the same way we would treat female breast cancer, with surgery, usually a mastectomy, maybe radiation and a check on the lymph nodes."

Broderick's cancer was considered stage 3, because it had spread into some lymph nodes.

Doctors performed Broderick's surgery at Mercy Medical Center-Dubuque.

"We had to wait for some healing before chemo at Medical Associates (Clinic)," he said.

Broderick received radiation treatments at The Finley Hospital's Wendt Regional Cancer Center.

Broderick must take tamoxifen for five years. Tamoxifen is a drug that interferes with the activity of the hormone estrogen, and has been used to treat breast cancer in women and men for more than 30 years.

Doctors don't know the cause of Broderick's -- or many other men's -- breast cancer.

"With the majority of men we see, it just happens," Scott-Conner said. "Having a family history of breast cancer can raise your risk."

Broderick fears many men who develop breast cancer won't take the necessary steps to identify and treat their illness -- in part because of breast cancer's identification as a "female's disease."

"Don't be embarrassed," Broderick said, "since the alternative to not mentioning it may be a life-threatening experience."