When Robert Pfleghardt, 62, was on a boys' night out in Las Vegas in 2021, his friend inadvertently saved his life. The playful act of a 'titty twister' – a pinch to the nipple – caused pain that led Robert to discover a lump, which turned out to be breast cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes.
Robert, from Vienna, Virginia, initially tried to ignore the pain, but over the next week he was still rubbing his chest. That's when he felt the lump. 'He'd probably say I started it, but my friend reached over to me and gave me a “titty twister” – where he pinched my nipple. It really hurt,' Robert says.
Discovery and Diagnosis
The lump was the size of an eraser and located right next to his nipple. 'It was kind of weird but I just blew it off. Guys don't get breast cancer, so I thought nothing of it,' explains Robert, a retired accountant working on a new business called VoraPrep. 'But it was playing on my mind so I went to get it checked out. I go in, and a nurse practitioner takes a look. Immediately she says it's something we need to aggressively research. Then things moved really really quickly.'
Around 420 men are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year, accounting for less than 1% of all diagnoses. Men have breast tissue around the nipple area and can develop breast cancer this way, typically known as invasive ductal carcinoma NST.
Treatment and Recovery
Robert underwent a mammogram, a process he found 'weird' as he was called 'Mrs Pfleghardt' instead of 'Mr Pfleghardt'. A woman walked in to give him his results with 'tears in her eyes'. 'She said it was breast cancer and they were concerned it had spread to my lymph nodes,' he recalls. 'I laughed a little at first. I thought that's kind off funny for a dude to have breast cancer. I probably weigh around 180, I'm not heavy, I don't have man boobs or anything.'
Over Christmas of 2021, Robert underwent further tests, keeping it a secret from his family. 'It was just me and my wife who knew,' he says. 'It was Christmas time, I didn't want to ruin it.' The tests confirmed the cancer had spread to one lymph node, so doctors recommended a double mastectomy and removal of 19 lymph nodes. Based on his nerves, Robert chose a lumpectomy instead, which removes the breast tumour and a small bit of healthy tissue surrounding it.
On January 21, 2022, Robert had surgery and was out of hospital within a couple of days. He then had 29 days of radiation, which 'literally looked like it cooked' him, turning his chest to a 'crispy brown'. Afterwards, he was put on Tamoxifen, a drug used to prevent breast cancer.
Looking Ahead
Robert is now preparing for his next full-body scan on October 1, 2026, to check if the cancer has spread further. 'But I'm actually really positive, of course I'm excited just to have answers and a path, but I'm 99% sure everything will be as expected,' he says.
Robert wants people to be more aware of the dangers of breast cancer in men. 'I think a lot more men get breast cancer than they know and it spreads without them realising,' he says. 'People don't know they can get it. And they don't know what to look for.'
'Me and my buddy joke about it now, you know, how we found it. But he saved my life,' Robert adds. 'Boys trips save lives.'
