Today we’d like to introduce you to Bret Miller.
Hi Bret, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Back in April 2003, I was just a typical 17-year-old high school senior getting ready to play football. One day while watching TV I stretched and scratched my chest and found a lump behind my right nipple. We didn’t have health insurance, so I asked the doctor at my upcoming football physical to check it out. They brushed it off completely, telling me it was just a calcium buildup or a normal part of puberty and becoming a man and that it would go away. It never did.
Seven years later and 2 years after college, I was working at that same pool and ice rink I had worked at since I was 15. I got promoted to manager and finally qualified for health insurance. During my checkup, the doctor didn’t check my chest, so I had to specifically ask him to look at the lump. That led to a sonogram, a mammogram, and finally having the lump removed on April 27, 2010. The very next day, I was standing in a country club parking lot about to head to my second job when my doctor called and casually blurted out that I had breast cancer. He hadn’t fully read the report but would and get back to me in 3-5 days… I honestly thought I was getting punk’d by Ashton Kutcher.
Going through a mastectomy on May 18, 2010—losing breast tissue, my nipple, and four lymph nodes—was terrifying, but getting the news that the cancer was caught early at Stage 0, DCIS and completely removed felt like a massive victory. Even though my options were open, I chose to do four rounds of chemo after an OncoType DX test showed it could lower my recurrence odds over a 10 year period. People would ask if I was worried about losing my hair to chemo, and my reaction was basically, “Really? I just lost a nipple, my hair will grow back!”
Because of how shocking it is for a guy to hear he has a woman’s disease, I knew I had to do something with my story. Back in May 2010, my parents and I started the Bret Miller 1T Foundation that soon evolved into what is now Male Breast Cancer Happens. Our goal was to get into high schools and colleges, letting the youth know that breast cancer does not discriminate and that men have breasts too. We tell teens to be their own best advocates, speak up if something feels wrong, and never settle for a brush-off. MBCH is now one of the biggest Male Breast Cancer Advocacy groups in the world supporting men in their journey with breast cancer.
For a long time, it felt like I had put that chapter behind me. On April 28, 2025, I celebrated my 15th year of thrivership. Looking back, there was a time when treatment made it look like I might never be able to have kids. But I was lucky enough to beat those odds, and today I have two beautiful children, Riley and Ryder, and my wife, Tasha, who is my absolute rock and biggest supporter through every single thing life throws our way. But the reality of this disease is that the fight doesn’t always stay in the rear-view mirror. On June 3, 2025, after 15 years completely clear, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer.
This new chapter changes the landscape, but it doesn’t change my mission by a single bit. If anything, it makes the work we do at Male Breast Cancer Happens more urgent than ever. Survival isn’t just about hitting a milestone—it’s a lifelong commitment to absolute transparency, persistent education, and making sure no man ever feels alone when he hears those words, “You have Breast Cancer.” A Stage 4 diagnosis doesn’t mean the legacy I’ve built is winding down. If anything, it raises our standards. What started out of my own shock and survival is now a movement that’s about to become bigger than ever.
For more information please check out www.malebreastcancerhappens.org.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road in the least bit. What I thought was going to be year 16 clear of cancer turned out to be metastatic breast cancer. But if not for my wife, Tasha, kids, Riley and Ryder, and my family I wouldn’t be where I am today.
At the beginning of my Breast Cancer journey I was turned away from a few of the big organizations because they didn’t know how to help men. That’s when I knew I needed to make change happen.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Founder of Bret Miller 1T Foundation dba Male Breast Cancer Happens Inc. what started as a negative in my life I chose to turn into a positive to help other men. When I was diagnosed as one of the youngest men in the world I knew I needed to help others.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Remember #MenHaveBreastsToo.
Men just need to be added to the conversation. This is a women’s disease but men get it too. We just want to be included, this is a people’s disease. Included in groups, conversation, clinical trials, and some male focused research because it is not exactly the same as women’s breast cancer.
Contact Info:
- Website: Male breast cancer happens.org
- Instagram: Bretmiller85
- Facebook: Malebreastcancerhappens
