World Cancer Day: I Never Knew Men Could Have Breast Cancer, Patient Shares Painful Journey

50-year-old Omonade Jacob Ochuko, from Delta State, has shared his battle with breast cancer.

He said his ordeal began eight years ago when he noticed a “tiny bean-sized lump” in his right breast. At the time, he dismissed it as a minor reaction to something he ate.

“I didn’t really take it seriously. I didn’t have any idea that men could have breast cancer,” he said.

Abuja-based Ochuko, who is married and has a daughter, said even his sister, a medical doctor, did not initially consider breast cancer when he showed her the lump in 2024.

However , as the mass grew darker and larger, concern mounted.

He said his wife eventually insisted he sought medical attention. In July 2024, he began a long and exhausting journey through multiple departments at the National Hospital, Abuja.

According to him, he underwent a series of blood tests, scans, biopsies and repeated investigations, partly delayed by limited appointment slots and expired test timelines.

After months of testing, Ochukwu said he received the news he never imagined on 9 September 2024: he was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I held the result in my hands and didn’t know how to react. I just started crying on the hospital walkway. A whole lot was going through my mind,” he recalled.

He said he first called his mother because he “needed someone to be vulnerable with,” because the diagnosis also devastated his wife, who struggled emotionally for days after reading the medical report.

He said his oncologist later confirmed that he had an aggressive form of the disease and recommended an intensive treatment plan fueled by extremely expensive medication.

“I was paying ₦2.45 million every three weeks for chemotherapy alone. The targeted drug they inject in my thigh costs about ₦2.3 million by itself,” he said.

He said he also had to undergo CT scans costing ₦270,000 each, repeating them multiple times as required.

Recalling the financial, emotional and physical toll on his family, he said one night, he had a severe medical crisis at about 2:30 a.m.

“My wife was crying, my baby was crying because she saw her mother crying. I couldn’t walk,” he said, adding that a neighbour eventually helped transport him in a truck to a private hospital in Nyanya, a town on the Abuja-Keffi highway.

Ochuko, who has since undergone a mastectomy and major treatments, said stigma also remains a painful burden, especially for men battling a disease widely believed to affect only women.

“For a man, the stigma is worse. But I refused to hide my face. Men need to know they are at risk, too.

“If I had known that men could have breast cancer, they would have removed that lump early, and all this pain would have been avoided,” he said.

He told LEADERSHIP that he had released a “cancer awareness song” and he is currently working on a video to visually tell his story, including the scar left after losing one of his nipples during surgery.

He appealed to the government to do more for cancer patients, citing the crushing financial and psychological strain of treatment.

“The mental, emotional, psychological and financial burden is heavy. Cancer patients and their caregivers need real support,” he said.

Speaking on breast cancer cases in men and children, the president of the Nigerian Cancer Society (NCS), Prof. Abidemi Omonisi, warned that male breast cancer, though rare, is more aggressive and deadlier than cases found in women.

Prof. Omonisi told LEADERSHIP that the general belief that breast cancer is a disease affecting only women is misleading, stressing that men also develop the disease and often die faster because they present it late for treatment.

He noted that treatment protocols for males and females are similar, but outcomes for men are generally poorer because the disease tends to be detected at very advanced stages.

Omonisi revealed a disturbing shift in cancer epidemiology in Nigeria, noting that children and young adults are increasingly being diagnosed with cancers once believed to affect only older people.

“I have diagnosed breast cancer in a 12-year-old child. It is not common, but we are seeing it now,” he said.

He attributed the emerging trend partly to genetics, calling for increased access to early-stage screening and genetic testing for people with a family history of cancer.

According to him, new technologies now available in the country can identify genetic risks before the disease develops, allowing individuals to begin early screening and preventive interventions.

While more Nigerians are coming down with cancer, the shortage of specialists remains a challenge. Nigeria currently has fewer than 80 oncologists serving a population of over 200 million people. This shortage is worsened by the ongoing Japa syndrome – the mass migration of healthcare professionals seeking better working conditions abroad.

Also, cancer treatment remains prohibitively expensive. According to Prof. Omonisi, stabilising a breast cancer patient, including diagnosis, hospital admission and preliminary tests, costs about ₦20 million.

A major financial burden comes from specialised tests such as immunohistochemistry, which determines the specific type of breast cancer and guides effective treatment.

World Cancer Day is marked annually on February 4. This year’s theme, “United by Unique,” highlights the importance of people-centred cancer care, prioritising individuals and communities in health systems.

Cancer refers to a broad group of diseases characterised by abnormal cell growth and spread due to genetic mutations. It can affect almost any part of the body, disrupting normal functions.

Experts have identified risk factors as family history of cancer, lifestyle choices (such as smoking, poor diet and physical inactivity), environmental exposures (like asbestos and pesticides), radiation (UV exposure or excessive medical radiation), and certain hormonal therapies.

According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC),  one in five people will develop cancer in their lifetime, while one in nine men and one in 12 women will die from the disease.

In 2022, the most common cancers globally were lung, breast and colorectal cancers. Lung cancer topped the list with 2.5 million new cases (12.4 per cent), followed by female breast cancer with 2.3 million cases (11.6 per cent), colorectal cancer with 1.9 million cases (9.6 per cent), prostate cancer (1.5 million cases, 7.3 per cent) and stomach cancer (970,000 cases, 4.9 per cent).

In Nigeria, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that cancer kills 240 people daily, meaning 10 deaths every hour. Cervical cancer accounts for about 24 female deaths daily, prostate cancer kills 26 men each day, while breast cancer claims roughly 40 lives daily.

Recognising the urgent need for a more coordinated response to the growing cancer burden, the Federal Government established the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT) to provide national leadership in cancer research, treatment and control.

The NICRAT Establishment Act of 2017 empowers the institute to drive scientific advancements in cancer prevention, care and treatment, and to coordinate the wide range of health institutions and stakeholders working in cancer care across the country.

Speaking on cancer care infrastructure, Omonisi said Nigeria now has at least 10 functional radiotherapy machines nationwide, describing it as a significant improvement from years ago when many patients had to travel abroad for treatment.

He noted that more West Africans are now visiting Nigeria for radiotherapy, describing the development as a form of “reverse medical tourism.”

He, however, warned that the progress could be undermined by worsening shortages in oncology manpower, as we noted Nigeria is losing doctors, nurses and other oncology specialists to countries offering better pay, safer work environments and more stable healthcare systems.

“Some oncologists in West Africa are paid as high as $5,000 monthly, while their colleagues in Nigeria earn less than $1,000. Many Nigerian specialists are now practising in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Australia and the US,” he said.

Beyond poor remuneration, he highlighted insecurity, including cases of doctors being kidnapped, hostile work environment, inadequate equipment and frequent industrial actions as major drivers of migration.

Prof. Omonisi also lamented that the ongoing strike by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) had paralysed public hospitals across the country, further worsening access to care.

“If these issues are not addressed, I cannot guarantee that oncology professionals will remain in the country,” he warned.

He urged the government to urgently improve salaries, upgrade equipment, ensure safer work environment and resolve industrial disputes to prevent further collapse of cancer care in the country.