The 67-year-old had his left breast removed at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Private Hospital on April 7 and is now free of cancer.
Mr Greiner first suspected something was wrong last May, when he noticed a small spot of blood on his shirt. The blood was coming from his nipple, but he ignored it.
When it happened again a few months later, he visited his doctor who prescribed a topical cream but sent him for a mammogram to be safe, as bleeding nipples can be a sign of something more sinister.
Not believing men were at risk from breast cancer, Mr Greiner declined the mammogram but reconsidered earlier this year.
Within days he was diagnosed with cancer and the surgery was arranged. He is now being praised for sharing his story and raising awareness of male breast cancer.
“I think it helped by telling my family and, when I knew I was going to have surgery, telling others,” Mr Greiner told the Australian Financial Review.
“Someone commented that ‘Nick Greiner and breast cancer don’t belong in the same sentence’.”
Approximately 125 Australian men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year and survival rates are high, with 85 per cent of those diagnosed living for five years or more.
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