10/20/2025
Since my diagnosis with breast cancer in 2005, I have witnessed firsthand how little attention has been given to men living with this disease in North America. Over the past two decades, major breast cancer organizations in Canada and the United States have made only modest efforts—posting information about male breast cancer (MBC) on their websites starting around 2012–2015—but little has been done to truly promote awareness or provide financial support for outreach.
By contrast, today—October 20, 2025—marks the eighth consecutive year that Breast Cancer Network Australia has dedicated this day to raising awareness of MBC across the entire country. Their example highlights what remains missing here at home.
Male breast cancer is rare, representing slightly less than 1% of all breast cancer cases worldwide. That rarity, however, should not mean invisibility. Too often, I believe organizations shy away from meaningful investment in MBC awareness because it does not promise financial return. Unfortunately, that profit-first mindset has real consequences: survival rates for men remain 10–12% lower than those for women. The difference is not in treatment—the protocols are the same—but in the timing. Men are often diagnosed at a much later, more advanced stage simply because awareness is so low.
I think back to the 1980s, when bold campaigns transformed women’s breast cancer awareness, mobilizing entire communities and saving countless lives. Men deserve that same kind of commitment today. Whether it comes from organizations, philanthropists, or everyday advocates, what matters most is a willingness to step forward so that awareness no longer lags behind.
These are my reflections, drawn from lived experience. I remain hopeful that with collective effort, we can change the story for men facing this disease.
For more information, see my book A Man’s Acceptance into the Breast Cancer Sisterhood, available for free download at www.malebreastcancer.ca.
EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES.
— Herb Wagner
CEO, A Man’s Pink and www.malebreastcancer.ca
This website site is designed to provide Male Breast Cancer (MBC) patients, survivors and their loved ones with access to information on male breast cancer. We also provide a forum to share individual stories, and one on one support to other male breast cancer patients and survivors. By increasing a...
