Last week, SanAntonio.com ran a story on James Barlow, a 79 year old retired district judge, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. When his two daughters were diagnosed with breast cancer, a blood test revealed that Barlow had the cancer gene, BRCA2. Women have this defective gene have about a 50 percent risk of contracting cancer; in men, it is nearly 70 percent.
After discovering a lump on his chest wall, breast cancer was diagnosed. His treatment involved a mastectomy and radiation for his Stage III disease.
COMMENT: Men, especially those with a female family member who has had breast cancer, deserve thermographic screening too. Consider the anatomic difficulties of attempting a mammogram on a man; MRI and ultrasounds are the only diagnostic options. And these can only be utilized after a mass had been identified. This is not “early detection” for the sake of prevention. With thermography, entire breast area can be observed and may have identified areas of concern before Mr. Barlow found his non-resolving lump.
