Rich Loud: Breaking the Silence Surrounding Male Breast Cancer

— By Megan Brown, Marketing & Communications Support, and Edited by Gina Rich

November 20, 2025

As a noise control engineer for power plants, Rich Loud lives up to his name. But when he’s not on the job, he’s pursuing his passion: running. “I’ve become a serial marathoner,” he says.

To prevent chafing while running, men often put tape over their nipples, he explains. In August 2024, while applying tape, Rich felt a lump in his right nipple. “I’d had cysts before, so I thought it would go away,” he says. But in late November, when he noticed an ache in his right armpit and found a lump there, he knew it was time to call his doctor.

After a mammogram, ultrasound, and biopsy, Rich received the call two days after Christmas informing him he had breast cancer. “Honestly, I thought, ‘Of course I do.’ Every step since I’d found that lump had been leading to this,” Rich says.

Diagnosed with Stage 2 Grade 2 invasive ductal carcinoma, Rich leaned on what he knew best: motion. “I kept running,” he says. “That was helpful for getting my mind off things and telling myself I’m strong.”

Finding the Right Team

Rich was set to begin chemotherapy near his home in upstate New York, but something told him to get a second opinion. He lived three hours from two major cancer centers, including Dana Farber in Boston, and learned they had a program to treat breast cancer in men.

At Dana Farber, Rich met doctors who specialize in male breast cancer, which the American Cancer Society says accounts for fewer than 1% of all breast cancer cases in the US. “My tumor was actually Grade 1, not Grade 2 like I’d originally been told,” he says. “That changed everything with my treatment plan. I learned when the cancer’s not as aggressive, it responds better to endocrine therapy.”

Rich was offered a chance to join an endocrine therapy-based clinical trial. “At first I said, ‘I’m all for science, but I’m not willing to die for it,’” Rich recalls. He talked with his wife and brother, who is a retired genetic counselor. His brother shared an observation: For people participating in clinical trials, “their attitude is so good because they’re not just treating themselves, they’re doing something good for other people. So, we decided to do it,” Rich says.

Running Through Treatment

Rich began the trial in February 2025, taking a combination of medications designed to suppress testosterone and inhibit the conversion of testosterone into estrogen. While side effects left him feeling more fatigued than usual, Rich kept running and raced in four marathons during treatment, adding to the dozens he had already completed.

When he told his doctor about the races, his doctor was supportive, but astonished. “He said, ‘Two days after your injection, you had zero testosterone. The fact that you ran one marathon is unbelievable. The fact that you ran four is crazy,’” Rich recalls.

After 19 weeks on the trial, Rich underwent a mastectomy and had several lymph nodes removed. Because his Oncotype score confirmed he wouldn’t need chemotherapy, Rich began radiation and completed active treatment in September 2025.

Raising Awareness and Giving Back

Throughout his experience, Rich noticed how rarely men spoke about breast cancer. “Even some women told me they didn’t know men could get it,” he says.

He’s taken it upon himself to change that. “I kind of wear breast cancer as a badge of honor now,” he says.

To raise awareness about male breast cancer, Rich posts on Instagram as @a.dude.with.breast.cancer. He encourages men who are diagnosed to consider second opinions and clinical trials when appropriate. “My plan was to have chemo, and had I not gotten a second opinion, that’s what I would have done. And what I did helped further the science for every man that comes after me,” he says.

And after hearing about ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis through the Male Breast Cancer Global Alliance, Rich completed ABCD’s Mentor Training. He was soon matched with another man facing breast cancer.

“His wife encouraged him to connect,” Rich says. “We’ve talked several times. He told me his Oncotype number was low—no chemo—and wanted to know what radiation was like. I walked him through what it was like for me.”

For Rich, being an ABCD Mentor is both grounding and empowering. “I didn’t feel like I needed a Mentor myself,” he admits, “but I’m willing to talk about it, so if someone needs one, I’m happy to be that person.”

Looking Forward

Since finishing active treatment, Rich has run three more marathons, including the New York City Marathon in November 2025. The race was incredibly special, Rich says, because he was able to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), the organization that funded the clinical trial that guided his care.

“I’ve never cried in a marathon before, but I was in tears half of that time,” he says. For Rich, the race symbolized everything he’d been through and how far he’d come.

Rich continues to work full-time and train for marathons. When asked what advice he’d give to other men facing a breast cancer diagnosis, Rich offers a metaphor: “I didn’t want to go to the doctor, because once I opened that door, I can’t close it,” he says. “Or to put it another way, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle.”

He pauses before adding: “But you know what? Ignoring it can kill you. If you want to live, open the bottle and let the genie out. You’re not less of a man because you have breast cancer.”

Rich was diagnosed in December 2024 with Stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma that had spread to lymph nodes. After participating in a clinical trial where he received various endocrine therapy drugs, he had a mastectomy and radiation.