Father Diagnosed

190dawg

After having my own lump scare, I found out my father has breast cancer at the age of 71. It was blessedly caught early. He is scheduled for a lumpectomy this coming Friday, and is undergoing genetic testing for my sake (I am his daughter).

I'm wondering how I can help him, he is very embarrassed about this diagnosis. I am also wondering how this increases my personal risk as his 28 year old daughter. I know it increases my risk, but at what level? Is this the same as having a mother have breast cancer....? I apologize for the ignorance. Thank you all for your help.

MelissaDallas

You will need to consult with the genetics doctor/counselor when his results come back. Generally, if he has a genetic cancer syndrome you have a 50% chance of having inherited it

190dawg

Thanks, MelissaDallas. If he does not have positive genetic results, does his diagnosis still influence my risk? Or is that only the case if his genetic testing is positive for a mutation?

wrenn

Sorry about your dad and your worry.

I was told that genetic testing wasn't necessary for my daughter or sisters because I was 66 when diagnosed and if I had had the gene I (or one of my sisters) would have been diagnosed at an earlier age.

190dawg

Hi wrenn,

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it very much. It sounds (so far) like dad's prognosis is pretty good. His lumpectomy is Friday, but results from the core biopsy indicate a likely DCIS that is ER+/PR+ and CK 5/6 negative. I've gathered that the er+/pr+ is a positive sign, I'm not sure about the CK 5/6. We'll have more information after the lumpectomy. They don't think he will need chemo because it is probably early stage, but radiation therapy is a possibility so we'll have to wait to find out about that as well.

I appreciate your input on the genetic risk. No one else in his family (male or female) has known breast cancer. He does have one younger sister who is 62. It's difficult to find information on male family history. I'll be consulting with my breast surgeon and OB on Monday to let them know about this development and see what they recommend going forward, but it always helps to benefit from the experiences of others such as yourself. Thank you.

I live out of state, but had a trip planning to visit coincidentally so I'll get to visit with him after his surgery. Hoping to try and keep his spirits up...

pupmom

I was diagnosed at 61. My 3 year younger sister had been diagnosed at 35 with DCIS. Because of this family history I got the genetic testing. It came up negative. That was awesome to hear, since I have two daughters. But since then I have learned that researchers have not identified all the genetic markers for bc. My advice is, if you have a close family member with bc, be very vigilant getting your yearly mammograms and any other tests available to assess your risk. Best wishes!

190dawg

Thank you, pupmom! I'm definitely planning to follow up with my own doctors and get their recommendations on follow-up.

I have a pseudo-lump that everyone thought was normal tissue as it did not show on ultrasound, but I'm thinking they might order some more imaging or a biopsy now. People were being pretty casual since I had "no family history", but that picture has changed...!

Traveltext

190dawg, I'm a guy four years post treatment and you can see thatI had a more advanced version than your dad, so he's very lucky that it was caught early. i'm very sorry that he's embarrassed to have this disease, but that's common for men because the bc charities don't do enough to raise awareness among guys. As to genetics, it's recomended that bc men have a genetic test. after all, we carry 50% of the genetic material and can pass on bad genes just like womn can. Do keep us posted.

190dawg

HI traveltext,

Thank you for your note. I do feel bad for him, because he refuses to tell any of his friends what is happening since he thinks they would make fun of him (they don't sound like very good friends to me if that's the case). He does have support from my mom, my husband, and myself - but my husband and I live out of state. Luckily, we had planned a visit this month earlier in the year and I'll be seeing him after his lumpectomy is done. We're definitely lucky this was caught. His lump isn't palpable, but he was having bloody discharge that prompted the subsequent mammogram/ultrasound/biopsy.

He does intend to have the genetic test done, although it sounds like they won't be performing the test until after his treatment is done so we may be waiting a while. I'm considering asking my OB to refer me for testing now rather than waiting, but that may be putting the cart before the horse. May I ask if you had the genetic test done? Do you have any children, and did your team advise you on the potential familial genetic risks? No one else on my dad's side of the family has breast cancer that we know of - male or female - so this all seems so out of the blue to us...

Traveltext

My mom died aged 40 from the disease. You can read my story, which includes the genetic testing, here:

http://malebreastcancercoalition.org/Survivor%20St...

Wait until your father has a genetic test until you consider one for you.

Tell your dad he's not unique and there are around 2,600 New male cases annually in the US alone. Once men understand that they have breasts too, it's not so hard for them to realise they can get breast cancer too

190dawg

Thank you for sharing your story, traveltext. It's very inspirational, and I'm so glad that you've made a recovery! I think what you're saying about testing makes sense (as in, wait until my dad's is done to see if there is anything to test for). I'll be calling my doctors tomorrow morning, and I'm sure they'll have some input into the situation as well.

I'll be sure to keep you guys posted, thank you so much for sharing advice and your experiences. There really does need to be more public education for men about this topic. My dad had been ignoring the discharge for several weeks, and an urgent care doctor happened to notice it when he went in for a sinus infection one week... Thank God that guy was on top of his game, my dad was adamant that it couldn't be cancer. Here's hoping for clean margins after the lumpectomy on Friday!

190dawg

Hi all,

A brief update! Dad had a lumpectomy two weeks ago today, and is recovering very well. He's back to running errands and getting his routine again. The pathology report actually showed no evidence of malignancy, which was excellent news! He had a benign papillary lesion (6mm) and they did find atypical ductal hyperplasia, but no malignancy so no need for radiation therapy.

He's still planning to meet with his oncologist next week to ask if we should consider getting him genetic testing since he does have children/daughters (me). I'm not sure if they'll advise it since he did not actually have a cancer diagnosis, and I'm not sure if him having ADH indicates an increased familial risk or not. If anyone here has ideas or information, I'd be open to hearing it!

Thank you to all of you for being so supportive. I will never let another October pass without reminding everyone I know that men can be diagnosed with BC too.

Traveltext

No evidence of malignancy is a fantastic result. Your dad has dodged a silver bullet and should recover very quickly. The genetic test may not happen, but I'd be relaxed about that.

It's great that you will advocate for men to make them aware of this disease. Put some blue into Pinktober!

190dawg

Thanks for the input, traveltext! We'll see what the oncologist says, and drop the genetic testing issue if they suggest it isn't needed.

And I will be definitely be doing my best to add some blue to the pink ribbon equation!