Men, too, can be afflicted with breast cancer and we wanted to pass along a reminder to them to be vigilant, before breast cancer awareness month wraps up.

ABC News reports that country singer Paul Ott Carruth was diagnosed earlier this year with breast cancer, a disease that affects about one man in 100,000. Carruth, 73, was diagnosed after doctors found a lump in his left breast. The cancer reportedly had not spread.

In 2007, there will be about 2,000 men diagnosed with breast cancer, compared with 178,000 women identified with the disease, Dr. Carol Scott-Conner, a professor in the department of surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, told ABC.

Other well-known men who have had breast cancer include actor Richard Roundtree (best known for his starring role in the movie "Shaft") and Edward Brooke, a former U.S. senator from Massachusetts.

Breast cancer most commonly strikes men between ages 60 and 70, reports the National Cancer Institute. Risk factors for male breast cancer include exposure to radiation, a family history of breast cancer and having high estrogen levels, which can occur with diseases such as cirrhosis or Klinefelter's syndrome. Symptoms of male breast cancer include lumps, changes to the nipple or breast skin, or discharge of fluid from the nipple. Treatment for male breast cancer is usually a mastectomy, which is surgery to remove the breast. Other treatments include radiation, chemotherapy and/or hormone therapy.

Your doctor or Sturdy Memorial Hospital can provide more information in the form of discussion or brochures.

It's important that men as well as women get suspicious lumps checked before the disease has a chance to spread to lymph nodes, into the bloodstream and other sites in the body - a process called metastasizing.

Knowing if the cancer cells have spread is important, explains the American Cancer Society, because this information will determine the best treatment. The more lymph nodes that are involved with the breast cancer, the more likely it is that the cancer will eventually be found in other organs as well.

Some men may feel uncomfortable expressing concerns about a breast lump, since breast cancer is so commonly considered a "woman's disease."

The people who love them, we're sure, would say: Please don't let embarrassment stand in the way of saving your life.