When Chris Cella started having shooting chest pain, he assumed there was a problem with his heart.

He went to see his doctor and asked for an EKG, a test that records the electrical signal from the heart to check for different heart conditions. His doctor told him he was having a heart attack and called 911.

After extensive testing at the hospital, Cella saw a cardiologist. “He told me, ‘Lift up your shirt,’ and I did,” said Cella. “He told me, ‘You don’t need a cardiologist, you need an oncologist.’”

Under Cella’s shirt the cardiologist saw an inverted nipple on his left side, the same side as his heart.

“Looking back at a photo taken of me with my shirt off on a cruise a month before, I can see the tumor under the breast. No one noticed it,” said Cella. “It was just a shadow of a tumor.”

While breast cancer mainly occurs in women, men can get it, too. In 2020, about 2,600 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 500 will die from it. While certain risk factors—like a family history, genetic mutations and radiation exposure—may increase a man’s chance of developing breast cancer, the cause of most breast cancers in men is unknown.

“The most important thing about male breast cancer is awareness,” said Dr. John Kiluk, a surgeon in the Breast Oncology Program at Moffitt Cancer Center. “Most people do not even realize that men can get breast cancer. As a result, there can be delays in treatment which could affect outcomes. If any patient notices any changes to their body, they really should get evaluated by a medical professional.” 

Cella’s mother had breast cancer twice and his aunt died of colon cancer. His father also battled multiple cancers. “I knew I would get something, I just didn’t expect this one,” he said. “I didn’t even know men could get breast cancer.”

Tests confirmed Cella’s cancer had spread to lymph nodes and he had surgery at Moffitt a few weeks later, followed by four months of chemotherapy.

“I lost every piece of hair on my body,” said Cella. “I was exhausted and the treatments took a lot out of me.”

After chemotherapy, Cella underwent a month of radiation treatment. He says he no longer sweats on the side of his chest that received the radiation, but he tolerated the treatment well. He is still dealing with some heart issues, but two years since his diagnosis he is cancer-free. He now wants to help spread awareness about how the disease can affect men.

“I tell everyone my story for their sake or their family’s sake,” said Cella. “I do think there is starting to be some awareness about it now. In the past, I would see ads talking about breast cancer and they were 100% about women and never men. Now, I start to see them bring up at least a smidgen of men can get it, too.”

While most types of male breast cancer appear in the form of a lump in the breast, other symptoms can include:

• Skin dimpling or puckering
• Nipple retraction
• Redness or scaling of the nipple
• Discharge from the nipple