Photo: Howdy, I'm H. Michael Karshis, Flickr / Peter Criss, far right
Original KISS drummer Peter Criss is speaking out, sharing that men can get breast cancer, too. He knows, because he’s had it.
Criss found a lump in his breast after a workout in 2007, and went on to find out it was cancerous. He caught it early, had it removed, and now, the 63-year-old is apparently doing just fine. He reports that he is cancer-free.
Indeed, men are at risk for the disease. According to the National Cancer Institute, in 2009 an estimated 1,910 men in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and 440 will die. Not as scary as for women — in the same year, about 192,370 women will receive a diagnosis, and 40,170 will die. Still, the risk is real, and so men should follow up on anything suspicious they feel in their breasts.
“Don’t sit around playing Mr. Tough Guy,” says Criss. “Don’t say ‘It’s going to go away.’ It might not and you might not see life anymore and how beautiful that is.”
Right on!