Robin Roberts announces she has breast cancer

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Robin Roberts co-anchor of ABC’s Good Morning America announced on the show Tuesday morning that she has the early stages of breast cancer. Roberts said she discovered a lump through a routine self-examination on the same day GMA aired a tribute to Joel Siegel, the film critic who died of colon cancer in June. She said the cancer was caught in the early stages when it is more easily treated. Roberts said there was no history of breast cancer in her family.

The 46-year-old news anchor is due to have surgery August 3 and will follow the surgery up with treatment. Roberts also asked viewers to be kind to her on the show’s Internet message boards if she has a bad day or two from time to time.

Ironically, Roberts champions the Mississippi Coast as it recovers from Hurricane Katrina and took up another cause…that of cancer recovery. Roberts plans to speak on Aug. 29 at the second anniversary of the storm at a fundraiser for Pink Heart Funds at the Beau Rivàge Resort in Biloxi.

Pink Hearts Fund was started in the wake of Hurricane Katrina when it was realized that cancer patients, most of who were living in FEMA trailers had no money to pay for wigs or prosthetics. Most medical insurance companies do not pay for what is known as cosmetics. The Pink Heart Fund raises money to help those Katrina victims and cancer patients get the wigs and prosthetics such as breast replacements.

She grew up in Pass Christian, Mississippi where she played basketball and tennis. She went to Southeastern Louisiana University and graduated cum laude in 1983 with a degree in communications.

Robin Roberts was an ESPN Sportscaster in 1990, winning three Emmy Awards and became a contributor for ABC News in 2002. In 2005, she was promoted to co-news anchor for Good Morning America. Her book ‘From the heart: Seven rules to live by’ was published earlier this year.