A Nigerian medical expert , Abigail Shona, has encouraged women to allow their spouses fondle and massage their breasts to allow for early detection of breast cancer.

She noted that although the act of sucking only works when babies are the ones doing the sucking because by actively feeding on the breasts, they draw milk from it thereby, providing nursing mothers a lower risk of pre- and post-menopausal breast cancer.

Speaking to newsmen in Ilorin, a western part of Nigeria on Monday, the expert added that breast sucking by men could only help detect cancer, but it can’t prevent it the way breastfeeding would.

Her words, “Most women who breastfeed experience hormonal changes during lactation that delay their menstrual periods.

“This reduces a woman’s lifetime exposure to hormones such as estrogen, which can promote breast cancer cell growth.

“What sucking the breast by a man can only do is to detect breast cancer by feeling the lumps early enough, so the woman can seek medical help,” Shona said.

“We are encouraging women not to deprive their husbands the pleasure of breast sucking and fondling, as this is also beneficial to them.

“This is because, inasmuch as we advocate self-examination by women for early detection, most women don’t do it.

“So, if they allow their husbands to help them with it, it will help a lot because early detection is the major panacea to addressing the scourge.

“If breast cancer is detected early before it gets to an advanced stage, the patient can survive it,” Shona said.

The medical expert, however, noted that men could also have breast cancer, advising them to also be on the lookout.