'I'm a man and people wouldn't believe I had breast cancer, including my GP'

An MP who survived breast cancer says the public need to be aware that “men can get it too”.

Clive Jones MP had a mastectomy after a hard, painful lump in his chest was initially dismissed by his GP. Around 400 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and, while this is only 1% of the total UK cases, there are fears cases are being missed because GPs don’t expect it or have time to ask the right questions.

Clive, the Lib Dem MP for Wokingham, said: "If a man feels a lump, don't let anybody put you off and insist on having a test to rule out or rule in cancer."

Clive told the Mirror he found the lump during a family day out in 2008 with his two daughters, who were aged 13 and 14 at the time, as they were leaving a McDonald’s restaurant. He explained: “I walked into the head of my 13 year old and I felt it. I had a really sore chest. I felt and there was a lump. So I went to the doctors and this GP had a look at it.”

The GP said it was gynaecomastia - a condition where men have bigger breasts than usual. It causes nipples or breasts to look swollen or feel sore and can affect men or boys.

Clive continued: “I said ‘well there is a lump there, we can both feel it, why don't you send me to the Royal Berkshire Hospital for a test?’ But he said ‘if I send you to the Royal Berks and everybody else who wants to go for a test, the NHS will fall apart… come back if it gets bigger.’”

Nine months later Clive says he was playing golf when he caught the lump again during a swing and doubled up in pain. He said: “I was playing golf, and I was actually a captain of the golf club that year, and I hit the most fantastic drive down the second hole, straight down the middle. The second shot was right in the middle of the green, so I was on for a birdie and the hardest hole on the course. And as I completed the second shot I hit my chest and it really, really stung, sort of put a tear to my eye. So when I got into the car after the game I rang the doctor.”

This time he requested a different GP to get a second opinion. Clive continued: “He told me to sit on his bench at the end of his consulting room, take my shirt off. He was doing some paperwork, not really concentrating, then he turned around, looked at me and said: ‘I'm going to send you for a test. Don't be alarmed, men really don't get breast cancer. People will be writing a book about you [if you have it].”

Clive underwent a biopsy that morning and by the afternoon was told he had breast cancer, aged 49. He said: “It was a real shock, especially for my wife, she said men don’t get breast cancer… but she just said ‘everything is going to be all right’. The most difficult thing I've ever had to do was a couple of hours later, tell my two daughters that I had breast cancer, that I was going to have to have a mastectomy, and it might have spread to other other parts of my body and I would probably have to have chemotherapy and radiotherapy.”

Charities warn that many people are not aware men can get breast cancer and those diagnosed can feel isolated. The backbench MP said: “It was a big surprise. When you say to someone you’ve got cancer they ask where it is, and when you say breast, they say: ‘In a man? That doesn’t happen.’

"I think it’s really important that people know that this cancer, like many other cancers, can be got by men and women. GPs have a very difficult job keeping on top of all of the different symptoms of cancer, and they need support. We need more GPs so they can have more time to talk to patients."

The Lib Dems are calling for 8,000 extra GPs and say patients should have a legal right to an appointment within a week, or 24 hours if urgent. Clive has also written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting after his call for evidence for the National Cancer Plan to demand a number of measures. These include a binding target for 100% of cancer patients to begin treatment within 62-days of being referred - up from the current NHS target of 85%.

The Lib Dems have obtained waiting time data from 65 of the 144 NHS trusts in England which suggests the number of patients waiting longer than the two-month standard is up 41% since 2019.

Clive had a mastectomy, all his lymph nodes removed from around his left armpit which left a “big gaping mess”, chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy. He is now aged 66 and cancer free. He said: "There is most certainly a life after having cancer. I got elected to the borough council in 2016, became leader of the council, set up a business in 2009, and in 2024 I was elected to Parliament.”

The Lib Dems are also calling for targeted screening for prostate cancer and sustainable capital funding for radiotherapy machines. Clive added: “After surviving my battle with breast cancer, I know all too personally how scary getting a diagnosis can be and the impact it can have on yourself and your loved ones. Rebuilding our cancer services after years of neglect under the Conservatives has to be right at the top of the political agenda.

"It touches too many, either through our own battle or watching a loved one suffer, to be left in this state any longer. That is why I have written to the Health Secretary to lay out some immediate measures that he could take to alleviate this suffering and give all those that have to go through this anxiety and pain the best chance of coming out the other side.”

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “Breast cancer can affect anyone, and it is vital that this is recognised in men too. We are grateful to Clive for speaking out about his experience. We’re taking decisive action to tackle breast cancer head-on — from launching world-leading AI trials to catch it earlier, to driving forward vital research that improves care and saves lives.

“Our reforms to cancer care will see more than 100,000 people getting diagnosed faster - and thousands more starting treatment within two months. Across the NHS, we’ve already hit our target of delivering three million extra operations, scans and appointments since July 2024.”