“She told me to go and get it checked and I laughed. I said, ‘Don’t be silly. Men don’t get breast cancer,’ “ Phil Smith recalled
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NEED TO KNOW
- Phil Smith, 64, was diagnosed with breast cancer after his wife noticed bloody nipple discharge on his undershirt
- Phil initially dismissed his wife’s worries because he didn’t think men could get diagnosed with breast cancer
- He was diagnosed with stage 3 aggressive breast cancer and is now urging other men not to ignore their symptoms
An Australian man never imagined a few drops of blood on his shirt could be a sign of breast cancer.
Phil Smith of Parkes, New South Wales, said his wife, Donna, noticed a tiny bloodstain on one of his white undershirts in December 2025, according to nine.com.au.
“It was right where my nipple is, and that happened over a period of a couple of days,” Phil, 64, said while speaking to the outlet.
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Donna grew increasingly concerned after she also noticed drops of blood on their bedsheets, but Phil wasn’t worried.
“She told me to go and get it checked and I laughed,” he recalled. “I said, ‘Don’t be silly. Men don’t get breast cancer.’ ”
Because it would take weeks to see a general practitioner, Donna urged Phil to bring up the bleeding during a scheduled appointment with his rheumatologist.
Although Phil had no lump or pain, the doctor found the symptom unusual and referred him for an ultrasound.
“The lady that did the ultrasound said there is a very small dot at nine o’clock behind my nipple,” Phil said.
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The technician told him it could be several things, including a small blood clot, but Phil would have to wait until after New Year’s to get his final results.
“I would be lying if I said it was out of my mind,” he said.
Phil’s rheumatologist called him in early January to tell him he had arranged an urgent appointment with a surgeon. The surgeon ordered several more tests, including a mammogram and a needle biopsy.
Despite the flurry of testing, Phil remained optimistic. Two weeks later, however, he learned he had breast cancer.
“It was like a ton of bricks falling on you,” he recalled of the moment he learned of his diagnosis. “Then looking over at my wife and looking at her face, it made me feel even worse.”
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Doctors diagnosed Phil with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a non-invasive form of breast cancer. They recommended immediate surgery.
But Phil and Donna, along with their four children and three grandchildren, were only weeks away from a long-planned family vacation to the United States. After taking several days to consider his options, Phil decided to postpone surgery for about two months so he could take the trip — against medical advice from his doctors.
Two days after returning home, he underwent a mastectomy.
The surgery was followed by serious complications. Phil suffered internal bleeding and collapsed after his blood pressure dropped dangerously low. He required emergency surgery to drain about 800 milliliters of blood from his chest.
Instead of spending one night in the hospital, he remained there for four days before returning home with a surgical drain that required daily care for 20 days.
Six weeks later, Phil received more difficult news.
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Doctors told him the cancer had grown rapidly during the delay between his diagnosis and surgery. According to Phil, it was ultimately classified as stage 3 aggressive, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.
Fortunately, the cancer had not spread to his lymph nodes, meaning he did not require chemotherapy or radiation. Instead, he began taking a medication called tamoxifen, which he will remain on for at least five years.
Genetic testing later revealed that Phil carries the BRCA2 gene mutation, which increases the risk of several cancers, including breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer.
“It’s a bit of worry, too, because I lost a brother when he was 55 from pancreatic cancer,” Phil said.
He will now undergo ongoing screening for prostate and pancreatic cancer in addition to regular breast cancer checkups. His diagnosis also means each of his children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting the BRCA2 mutation.
Looking back, Phil said he wishes he had taken his initial symptom more seriously.
“I think the biggest thing I did was bury my head in the sand [because] I’ve never known a male that had breast cancer,” he said. “But now I know. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. If you’re not sure, get it checked. It’s not hard to do.”
Today, Phil credits his wife for urging him to see a doctor when she did.
“If it wasn’t for Donna, I would never have worried about it,” he said. “They said it was aggressive. If I would have left it for six months, who knows?”
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According to the Cleveland Clinic, one out of every 100 breast cancer diagnoses affects males, and approximately 2,800 men in the U.S. receive a breast cancer diagnosis every year.
Symptoms can include a lump in the armpit, dimpled skin on the chest, red or flaky skin near the nipple, pain or tenderness on the chest or armpit, clear or bloody nipple discharge and an inverted nipple, per the Cleveland Clinic.
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