WHEN Doug Harper found a lump on his left nipple, little did he know he had already joined the tiny number of male breast cancer sufferers in the UK.

He explained: "I just thought it was a cyst. I was going to leave it - guys always leave things don't they.

"But it was quite large and my partner told me I should have it checked out."

The musician, from Plum Lane, Plumstead, said: "When I showed it to my doctor, he said 'I don't like the look of that'.”

His doctor noticed that the nipple was inverted, a sign that cancer could be present. That prognosis was confirmed two days before his 50th birthday.

Mr Harper said: “I didn't even know that men could have breast cancer.

“When he told me what it was I couldn't believe it. It was a complete and utter shock."

Doctors at Queen Elizabeth told Mr Harper he was only the third man in three years to be diagnosed with breast cancer at the hospital.

Each year an average of only 300 men are diagnosed with it in the UK, mainly affecting the over-60s.

Mr Harper said: "It felt like everyone's unprepared for it. All the literature is aimed at women.

“I thought it was typical me really – I’m always a bit different.”

An operation to remove the lump has now been delayed due to his high blood sugar – Mr Harper has since been diagnosed with diabetes.

In the meantime the 50-year-old, a former campaigner on the Blackwall Tunnel closures, is keeping a blog on his experience to raise awareness of the disease.

He said: “I suppose once the tunnel reopened I had to find something else to do.”

To follow his blog visit dougeharper.wordpress.com