Country Singer Paul Ott Carruth Battles Breast Cancer
While more common in women, breast cancer also hits men.
Oct. 18, 2007— -- Seventy-three-year-old country singer Paul Ott Carruth has sung about heartache and loss, the death of patriotism and dwindling natural resources.
But recently, he battled a bigger foe, one that few men ever confront: breast cancer.
Doctors diagnosed Carruth with breast cancer earlier this year after finding a lump in his left breast. He had his left breast tissue removed, along with a three-quarter-inch tumor. Fortunately, the cancer had not spread to his lymph nodes.
His doctors predict that he'll make a full recovery, and he has already returned to hosting his outdoor-themed radio program, "Listen to the Eagle."
And Carruth's experience may help increase awareness that breast cancer affects men too, albeit rarely.
"Men have breast tissue, so they certainly can get breast cancer," says Dr. Carol Scott-Conner, a professor in the department of surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, who has treated several men with breast cancer.
Male breast cancer comprises only 1 percent of all breast cancer cases — not a surprising figure, since men's bodies contain only about 1 percent of the breast tissue that women's do. In 2007, Scott-Conner estimates there will be about 2,000 men diagnosed with breast cancer, compared with 178,000 women identified with the disease.
"There is a pattern," she says, adding that Carruth fits it. "Mostly, we see male breast cancer in older men, and typically, it presents as a lump."
Considered "country royalty" in Mississippi for years, Carruth's family has found fame in many places. His first wife was a former Miss Louisiana, one of his sons was a professional football player with the Green Bay Packers, and his daughter, Carla, was nearly crowned Miss Mississippi.
But cancer has touched his family with an equal measure of tragedy. Carruth lost his wife to ovarian cancer in 1983. His daughter had a double mastectomy as a precautionary measure after finding a lump in 2005.
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