How fear and shyness mean more men are dying of cancer

According to the latest figures men are more likely to develop cancer then women.

According to the latest figures men are more likely to develop cancer then women.

Each year 179,000 men receive a cancer diagnosis, compared with 173,000 women, says Cancer Research UK.

Yet the fact remains that if a woman found a lump she would most likely seek urgent medical advice, while if the same happens to a man, all too often he will ignore it. Men don’t seem to like going to the doctor — even when it comes to something as potentially serious as cancer.

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A study of more than 2,300 women and men with 15 different types of cancer found that men were far more likely to delay seeing a doctor.

According to the results, published in the British Journal of Cancer, 44 per cent of men with prostate cancer delayed visiting their GP about their symptoms for three months or more, while only 8 per cent of women with breast cancer symptoms put off getting help.

But some men are paying for delaying that visit with their lives. Men are significantly more likely to develop cancer, and 36 per cent more likely to die from it than women, according to figures from Cancer Research UK.

‘Malignant melanoma is a type of cancer that is more common in women than men, but still more men die of it even though more women have it,’ says Dr John Chisholm, a former GP and chair of the Men’s Health Forum.

‘There are various reasons for this — men are not as aware of the symptoms of cancer as women — such as swelling, unexplained weight loss or bleeding.

‘Men also tend to delay going to get their symptoms checked out — they are perhaps more worried about the diagnosis than women and are less familiar with the healthcare system.

‘When I was a GP, men tended to apologise for coming. They would often say they had been pushed into attending by their wife or partner.’

And when men are diagnosed it hits them harder. Figures from Macmillan Cancer Support show that 50 per cent of newly diagnosed patients have levels of anxiety or depression severe enough adversely to affect their quality of life. Yet men suffer higher levels of depression and feelings of hopelessness than women, according to cancer charity Tenovus.

However, there is little support on hand. A study in the British Journal of Cancer in 2013, involving 1,000 men across Europe and the UK who had been treated for prostate cancer, concluded that eight in ten were not getting the care they need to prevent psychological or sexual problems.

Dr Frances Goodhart, a consultant clinical psychologist in an independent practice in London and author of The Cancer Survivor’s Companion says the support services in place are not aimed at men: ‘They are aimed towards discussion about hair loss, fertility post-treatment — it all very much focuses on women,’ she says.

Furthermore, she says, there may be stereotypical attitudes about men’s emotional needs during treatment.

‘There is clear evidence that women find it easier to express their needs and talk about their concerns and to accept help,’ shesays.

‘Yet men are different and peopleneed to give them permission to talk about their feelings so they feel they can say: “I’m feeling down andvulnerable.” ’

The benefits of emotional support during cancer treatment should not be underestimated. Results from a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2013 found that married people tend to live longer than single people after cancer diagnosis — partly due to the emotional support a partner brings.

Peter Jackson, 55, the former player and manager for teams such as Lincoln City and Bradford City, is a prime example. Not only did he delay going to the doctor for months before he was diagnosed with cancer of the throat in 2008 at the age of 46, but he also became hugely dependent on his wife Alison, who is now 58.

‘I had never seen him look the way he did in the hospital when he had just been told about the cancer,’ says Alison.

‘He was usually full of confidence — he was used to being adored by fans, and as a manager he liked swaggering up and down the sidelines in his Hugo Boss suit.

‘Yet he was sitting there in a white theatre gown and looked suddenly so vulnerable, and he started to cry in front of me for the first time in almost 30 years of marriage.’

As he went through radiotherapy, Peter’s frustration at the situation became so bad that he refused medical help — as some men do.

‘I used to think: “Does he think it’s a sign of weakness to have painkillers?” ’says Alison.

‘Once we were on a break in Scarborough and he developed a fever. I said: “I’m calling an ambulance.” He said: “No, don’t,” but I just ignored him.’

Happily, Peter is cancer-free. But whether he would have made it through without the emotional support and perseverance of his wife, pushing him on to persist with his treatment, is open to question.

Dr Goodhart says the situation for men is improving, with resources such as the distress thermometer, a question and answer scale to allow people to mark their feelings on a scale from one to ten.

‘It’s a way of opening up a conversation for either sex, but men especially may benefit,’ she says.

Dr Chisholm believes men could also benefit from being taught at school about how to access healthcare so that it is less daunting to them asadults.

* Living With Jacko by Alison and Peter Jackson (Great Northern Books).

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