The short answer
Robin Roberts found a lump during a self-exam in 2007. Her mammogram appeared normal, but an ultrasound found a tumour and a biopsy showed triple-negative breast cancer. Five years later she developed MDS, a bone marrow disorder caused by that chemotherapy, and had a transplant from her sister in September 2012.
Roberts found a lump herself the night of a tribute show for a colleague who had died of cancer.
Her mammogram appeared normal. An ultrasound found the tumour, and a biopsy confirmed triple-negative breast cancer.
Triple-negative disease has none of the three targets most breast cancer drugs aim at, so her treatment leaned on chemotherapy and radiation.
Five years later she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a rare late effect of that chemotherapy.
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The full explanation.
A lump she found herself
Robin Roberts is a co-anchor of ABC's Good Morning America. Before that she was a sportscaster, and the first Black woman to anchor ESPN's SportsCenter.
In 2007 her programme aired a tribute to her colleague Joel Siegel, who had died of cancer. Roberts had presented a piece in it about early detection. In her own account of what happened next, she says that when she went to bed that night she did a self breast exam, and found a lump.
She has described her first reaction as disbelief. She was a young, healthy woman.
When the mammogram came back normal
Her mammogram appeared normal.
That could easily have been the end of it. It was not, because she had felt something and her doctor took that seriously. CURE reports that a follow-up ultrasound found the tumour, and a needle biopsy confirmed it was cancer.
This is the part of her story most worth remembering. A scan that comes back clear is reassuring, but it is not proof. Imaging misses things, especially in breast tissue that is hard to read. If you can feel a change and the scan says nothing, that is a reason to keep asking, not to relax.
Treating triple-negative disease
The biopsy showed triple-negative breast cancer.
Most breast cancer drugs work by grabbing one of three things on the tumour: the oestrogen receptor, the progesterone receptor, or extra HER2. Triple-negative tumours have none of them. There is nothing for hormone tablets or HER2 drugs to attach to.
So her treatment leaned on chemotherapy, along with surgery and radiation. Roberts has said she has no regrets about that treatment, because it saved her life. She also chose to talk about the diagnosis on television at the time, and has described how much lighter she felt once she was not hiding it.
A second illness caused by the first
About five years later she was exhausted in a way that did not fit. Her blood counts were low.
The diagnosis was myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS: the bone marrow no longer making enough healthy blood cells. In her case it was a rare late effect of the chemotherapy that had treated her breast cancer.
She needed a bone marrow transplant. Only one of her siblings was a match. Her sister Sally-Ann donated, the transplant was done on 20 September 2012, and Roberts returned to Good Morning America on 20 February 2013.
What survivors take from her case
Three things, and they pull in different directions.
Act on what you feel. Knowing the symptoms of breast cancer mattered more for her than any scan did.
Ask what subtype you have. The types of breast cancer behave differently and respond to different drugs, and triple-negative disease is treated differently from the rest. Our overview of breast cancer treatment explains how those choices get made.
And expect follow-up to go on for years. Strong treatment for breast cancer can, rarely, cause a serious problem of its own a long time later. That is not an argument against treatment. It is the reason survivorship care exists.
Sources
Put the story in context
Prevention, possible warning signs, screening, and diagnosis
This story relates to cancer. The information below is general: it does not reveal anything else about a public person’s health, and not every point applies to every cancer. Personal advice depends on age, symptoms, family history, exposures, and medical history.
Prevention and risk reduction
Not every cancer can be prevented. Avoiding tobacco, protecting skin from ultraviolet radiation, limiting alcohol, staying active, and receiving recommended HPV or hepatitis B vaccination can lower the risk of certain cancers. A risk factor is not a prediction or a cause in one individual.
Symptoms and possible early signs
Possible signs vary and are often caused by conditions other than cancer. Changes worth discussing include a new lump, unexplained bleeding or weight loss, a persistent cough, lasting bowel or bladder changes, a changing skin spot, or symptoms that persist or worsen. Some early cancers cause no symptoms.
Screening and early detection
Screening looks for certain cancers before symptoms begin. Recommended tests exist only for some cancers and depend on age and risk. Screening can have benefits and harms; it is not the same as evaluating a new symptom, and there is no single routine scan or blood test that reliably screens for every cancer.
How cancer is diagnosed
Diagnosis may involve a history and exam, imaging, laboratory tests, and often a biopsy. Pathology can identify the cancer type and may test biomarkers that guide treatment. Symptoms, screening results, tumor markers, or online stories alone cannot confirm cancer.
Learn about this story’s cancer topic
A public story may encourage questions, but it should not be used to estimate your risk or choose testing. Contact a healthcare professional about a persistent or concerning change. Seek urgent care for severe or rapidly worsening symptoms.
Words to know
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Common questions
How did Robin Roberts find her breast cancer?
She found a lump during a self-exam. In her 2007 announcement she said that the night of the tribute show for her colleague Joel Siegel — a show in which she had presented a piece about early detection — she did a self breast exam and found a lump.
Her mammogram was normal. So why did anyone keep looking?
Because she had felt something. CURE reports that although her mammogram appeared normal, her doctor ordered a follow-up ultrasound, which found the tumour, and a needle biopsy confirmed it was cancer. A normal scan does not cancel out a symptom you can feel.
What does triple-negative mean?
The tumour has no oestrogen receptors, no progesterone receptors and no extra HER2. Those are the three things most targeted breast cancer drugs act on. Without them, hormone tablets and HER2 drugs do not work, and chemotherapy does more of the work.
What was the blood disorder she developed later?
Myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, a disorder of the bone marrow. In her case it was a rare late complication of the chemotherapy that had treated her breast cancer. She had a bone marrow transplant on 20 September 2012 with her sister Sally-Ann as a near-perfect match, and returned to Good Morning America on 20 February 2013.
Does this mean chemotherapy is too dangerous?
No, and Roberts has been clear about that herself. She has said she has no regrets about the treatment she received, because it saved her life. Treatment-related MDS is rare. It is the reason survivors stay under follow-up for years, not a reason to refuse treatment.
Questions to ask your doctor
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Last updated: 2026-08-11Next planned review: 2028-07-11
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How this page was created
Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes. We do not employ clinicians and do not intend to — our work is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
Editorial status: Source checked — This page was written with AI assistance and checked line by line against the sources listed on it. That confirms the sources support what the page says. It is not a medical review, and it does not confirm the page is complete or right for your situation.
Human medical review: not completed. Pages here are not signed off by a clinician before they publish. That is not an oversight we are quietly working around: we restate published guidance and cite it, so the authority belongs to the source rather than to us, and every page names where its claims come from — you can verify us instead of trusting us. Where a volunteer clinician has reviewed a page, their name and credentials appear on it; where no name appears, no clinician has checked it. We are glad to have reviewers and are recruiting them, and we do not hold pages back waiting for one. Use this site to understand your situation and to ask better questions of the people treating you.
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