Major Takeaways:
Larry Roberts’ journey highlights the urgent need for awareness that men can develop breast cancer too.
Early detection and speaking up about symptoms can save lives by removing stigma and encouraging timely care.
Larry’s resilience and advocacy transform personal survival into a broader mission of education and empowerment.
Breaking the Silence: Male Breast Cancer Survivor Larry Roberts Inspires Awareness and Action
When you picture breast cancer, most people see women’s faces, pink ribbons, survivor walks, mothers and daughters arm in arm. But Larry Roberts, a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and lifelong athlete from Iowa, is breaking that picture wide open.
In September 2023, Larry noticed something unusual. “I wasn’t expecting a breast cancer diagnosis,” he recalls. Yet that’s exactly what came, and it came fast. “Everything was happening so quickly, like I was in a blender,” he said. “I could tell from the reactions of the doctors that cancer seemed to be the road we were heading down.”
It was the kind of moment that could shatter a man’s sense of self. Larry had spent decades on the softball diamond, active and fit, proud of his energy and endurance. The idea of having breast cancer, something rarely discussed among men, didn’t fit the image he’d always carried of himself. “I wasn’t a big ‘go to the doctor guy,’” Larry admits. But that choice to get checked changed everything.
In December 2023, he underwent a right-side mastectomy and the removal of nine lymph nodes. Two tested positive for cancer. Treatment followed: chemotherapy, radiation, the full gauntlet. He finished his last round on March 27, 2024.
“During chemo, surgery, and radiation, my one goal was to get back to normal,” he said. “But I soon realized nothing is normal after cancer.”
That realization wasn’t defeat. It was a turning point. “Getting back to doing what I love, playing softball and golf, was like a carrot dangling in front of me. It kept me going.”
Larry’s genetic tests came back negative for BRCA mutations, but his curiosity and awareness grew. “It was a relief that my cancer wasn’t genetic,” he said, “but it makes you wonder how you got the short end of the stick. I try not to dwell on it.”
Instead, Larry turned his focus outward. With his wife’s encouragement, he created a Facebook page to keep friends and family updated through treatment. “At one point, we were getting so many calls that my wife suggested we post updates online,” he said. What began as a way to share progress became something much deeper, connection. He met other survivors, men and women, and began to see his story as a bridge for awareness.
In April 2024, Larry spoke at the annual MercyOne Breast Cancer Symposium as part of the survivor panel. His message was simple but urgent: men get breast cancer too. “I never felt like cancer was going to be the end of me,” he said. “I always tried to view it as only a speed bump in my life.”
That outlook became his rally cry. According to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, fewer than one percent of all breast cancer cases in the U.S. occur in men. Yet many men don’t know they’re at risk or feel embarrassed to bring up symptoms. “Men can get breast cancer too,” the Foundation states. “They may not tell a doctor because they’re embarrassed or worried.”
Larry’s story cuts right through that silence. “If you feel something, don’t wait,” he urges. “Don’t let the word ‘too tough’ stop you. Get checked, get care, ask questions. That’s how you turn the speed bump into a marker of what you’re still capable of.”
Even as his treatment ended, Larry’s mission continued. He returned to softball and golf, slower at first, but with renewed gratitude. He still posts updates, sharing not just his recovery but reminders to other men to stay aware and proactive.
“I treat the diagnosis as an impetus, not a defeat,” Larry says. “It’s about helping make visible the often overlooked reality of male breast cancer.”
His story is proof that survival isn’t just about treatment. It’s about transformation. Larry’s journey shows what happens when courage meets community, when a private fight becomes a public purpose.
Today, he’s back on the field, back on the course, and back to living with intention. And for every man who thinks breast cancer is someone else’s disease, Larry Roberts has a message: think again.
