Gordon Clay here. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

When Richard Roundtree, the star of the original 'Shaft' movie, felt a lump in his chest, he had it checked immediately and found it was cancerous. Now he's taken on a new role: publicly promoting early breast cancer detection for males. He said, "If ‘Shaft’ can survive this, and the reason is early detection, I have to say something about it."

One in every 100 breast cancer cases is a man. This is a 26% increase from 1973. In 2007 there were 1,990 new cases of breast cancer in men and 450 deaths. It's unusual, unnoticed, and ignored. The relative delay in diagnosis of men versus women is 18 months. So, chances are, our cases are more advanced resulting in higher mortality rates.

Breast cancer is usually more common in men over 60 with higher than normal levels of estrogen, often produced by extra fat tissue, Those exposed to radiation therapy and Those with family history of breast cancer.

Another report suggests that men who had blue-collar jobs for at least 3 months in service stations, vehicle maintenance, wholesale gasoline sales, or car repair shops were considered to have been exposed to gasoline vapors and have a significantly higher risk of developing the disease. And, high estrogen levels can also result from alcohol damage to the liver.

All men are potentially at risk, and should begin doing breast self-exams, checking for unusual lumps beneath the nipple, thickening, swelling, discharge or other changes in the breast. What have you got to lose?