Brian Place is facing a 50/50 chance of surviving the next five years as he battles cancer, and is urging other men not to “die of ignorance”.
The 60-year-old first discovered a lump in his left breast in 2005 but delayed seeing his GP because he believed men couldn’t get breast cancer. After initially going into remission following treatment, the operations manager from Newcastle received a secondary diagnosis earlier this year when the cancer spread to his spine, pelvis and liver.
The stage 4 cancer is incurable, but Brian is managing his condition with medication and has been given a “50/50 chance of making 5 years”. He is now trying to raise awareness of male breast cancer, admitting that ignorance nearly cost him his life two decades ago.
He warned other men: “Don’t die of ignorance. This is a genderless disease, check yourself and if you find anything suspicious – get it checked out straight away. Men must not be an ostrich and stick their head in the sand… because they really need to get the help when it’s the right time to get the help.”
Brian discovered a small, mobile lump in his left breast 19 years ago. Initially, he thought it was just a cyst from a rugby injury.
He waited a month before seeing his doctor and felt out of place as the only man at the breast cancer clinic. Shockingly, after his breast cancer diagnosis was confirmed, the surgeon revealed that the tumour had likely been there for about 5 or 6 years.
Brian underwent a mastectomy, radiotherapy, and medication. Two years later, he chose to have his right breast removed when the cells started showing signs of potential cancer.
Despite the two 9-inch scars on his chest and the loss of his nipples, Brian was content with his decision. He said: “Once you’ve taken that step to actually go bare-chested on holiday or around the pool or even the back garden, nobody takes a second glance. I had that little bit of trepidation that I was not going to be accepted, but quite frankly, it was never a problem.”
In 2010, he was officially discharged as a cancer patient.
However, in August 2023, the operations manager began experiencing severe back pain that left him “crawling along the floor”. By February, it was revealed that one of his vertebrae had collapsed due to cancer, which had also spread to his pelvis and liver.
Despite his grim prognosis, Brian feels “lucky” to have regained some mobility and quality of life through medication. However, he knows that the most doctors may be able to offer him in the future is palliative radiotherapy as his cancer is now incurable.
He has been vocal about his support for the Men’s Virtual Meet-Up, a community group supporting male breast cancer patients, and wants to raise awareness for their work. He also urges men to educate themselves on their risk of breast cancer.
He said: “Blokes, particularly, every single one that you talk to, even on the Men’s VMU, will tell you that they had no idea that men could get breast cancer. Get the message out there, people are less ignorant, and the sooner they catch it, the better quality of life they’re going to have, maybe even a cure.”