Robin Roberts of "Good Morning America”, an ABC's program announced on Monday that she has myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood disorder triggered by her cancer treatment. Robert beat breast cancer five years ago.
Roberts, 51, who expects to undergo a bone marrow transplant this fall with her sister as a donor. "My doctors tell me I'm going to beat this - and I know it's true," she said in the statement.
The "GMA" anchor was diagnosed on the same April day that the ABC program pulled ahead of NBC's
The network's medical correspondent, Dr Richard Besser, said in a statement on the website that he was consulting with Roberts about MDS, a rare malignant disorder of the bone marrow that typically affects elderly people and can sometimes be the result of cancer treatment.
He said her treatment would begin on Monday, when she receives a drug to prepare her for the bone marrow transplant. She will continue hosting the morning television show but is expected to stay off the air for several months after the transplant to recover.