All in the Family -- A Unique Case of Breast Cancer

They say breast cancer can run in the family. So when June Canter discovered she had breast cancer in 2000, she felt fortunate she’d had sons, not daughters. She underwent a lumpectomy, radiation and chemotherapy at the John Wayne Cancer Institute Breast Center at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA. Then in October 2005, just two weeks after she finished her hormone therapy and was declared cancer free, Paul Canter, June’s husband of 21 years, was diagnosed with the deadly disease.

What are the odds of a husband and wife both contracting breast cancer? Very rare. Breast cancer is about 100 times less common among men than women. The American Cancer Society estimates that only 2,030 new cases of invasive breast cancer in men will be diagnosed in the United States this year. Male breast cancers represent just 1 percent of all breast cancer cases.

But for the Canters, who had already been through so much together, those statistics offered little comfort. Like June had, Paul discovered the lump himself. He had had a heart transplant several months earlier and was taking immunosuppressive drugs to prevent organ rejection. As a side effect of the drugs, he was developing more breast tissue, which was concerning and led him to notice the abnormality. He asked June what it was and she replied with the dreaded news, “It’s a lump.”

The Canters returned to the JWCI Breast Center at Saint John’s Health Center – this time with Paul as patient and June as the supporting spouse. “I’ve only operated on two other men with cancer,” says Helen Mabry, M.D., a skilled breast cancer surgeon and assistant director of the breast center. “The fact that June had experienced breast cancer increased the couple’s awareness of it, and helped them recognize the lump and the urgency in getting it checked.”

A mammogram and needle biopsy confirmed the tumor was cancerous. “I’d always heard women talk about mammograms, but it was strange to be having one myself,” says the 68-year-old businessman and co-owner with June of the Allen Edwards Salon in Encino. “That was a weird experience.”

Although invasive cancer was detected in only one breast, Paul opted to have a double mastectomy. “I didn’t want to take any chances of it coming back in the other breast,” he explains. Paul will continue on hormone therapy for the next few years, but he considers himself disease free.

Both Canters are still under the watchful eye of Mabry. “This is the first time I’ve ever cared for a wife and husband with breast cancer,” she says. “It’s very rare.”

October has become a fairly significant month for the Tarzana couple. Not only is it when June finished her therapy and was declared cured from cancer, but it is when Paul discovered his tumor – early enough that it could be successfully treated with surgery and hormone therapy. It also is the month they both have birthdays. In short, October marks a time they celebrate life, and each other. 

“I couldn’t have gone through all of this without the wonderful support of my wife and family,” says Paul, “and the first class care I received at Saint John’s.”