By Blake Haas
BLOOMINGTON – As Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, a Central Illinois Doctor says it’s vital to get checked at least once a year.
Dr. John Wieland, OSF General Surgeon, told WJBC’s Scott Miller that both men and women should get checked for breast cancer.
“Absolutely. And it can’t be stressed enough. As a screening exam for susceptible populations of women and really everyone is susceptible to a certain degree. And you can get differences. It used to be agreed upon in terms of when screening should start and how often that should be done. There’s a little bit of a debate in the breast cancer community about that. But a pretty good average is starting at age 40 for a regular risk population to get a baseline mammogram study. And then usually about every other year after that until about the age of 75.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Breast Cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the United States.
“Men can get Breast Cancer, it’s a very small percentage, but usually because males have so little breast tissue, it’s really right behind the nipple. If you feel any kind of lump or any change, sometimes it’s painful, sometimes it’s not painful right around that area of the nipple, then it should definitely get evaluated. Usually, we men manifest with a lump, but it’s almost always in the exact same place right behind the nipple.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health reports 237,000 breast cancer cases are diagnosed in women and about 2,100 in men each year in the U.S.
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].
