Robin Roberts (Good Morning America) announces she has breast cancer

July 31, 2007

New York - ABC's "Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts has announced that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Roberts, who co-anchors "Good Morning America" with Diane Sawyer, said she examined herself and found a lump on her breast the same day she had done a report on former movie critic Joel Siegel, who died of colon cancer last month.

"It all started a few weeks ago. We had gotten the news that our dear colleague and friend Joel Siegel had passed away and we began preparing for our special tribute show for him. I did a piece about Joel's courageous battle with cancer, reporting on the way my friend had lived his life and been such a successful advocate for the importance of early cancer screenings. That very night when I went to bed, I did a self breast exam and found something that women everywhere fear: I found a lump."

Her doctor conducted a biopsy and determined that it was in fact an early form of breast cancer.

"I will be having surgery shortly and follow-up treatment in the months to come," Roberts said on today's "Good Morning America" broadcast. "So in the coming months, you will probably notice that I will have my good days and my bad days, but I know I will get through it with the love and support of my family and friends."

Roberts also thanked the audience at home, saying, "To you, our viewers, please know that your thoughts and prayers very much sustain me as they always have each and every morning when I sit in the chair next to Diane and say 'Good Morning America.' You have always been there for me ... and I love you back."

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