CNN’s Sara Sidner reveals stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis during live broadcast

“CNN News Central” anchor Sara Sidner used the end of her live broadcast on Monday to reveal she’s being treated for stage 3 breast cancer.

The 51-year-old journalist told viewers she’s currently in her second month of chemotherapy, and plans to undergo radiation and a double mastectomy.

“I have never been sick a day in my life. I don’t smoke, I rarely drink. Breast cancer does not run in my family,” she said through a shaky voice. “And yet, here I am with stage 3 breast cancer. It is hard to say out loud.”

“Stage 3 is not a death sentence anymore for the vast majority of women,” she continued. “But here is the reality that really shocked my system when I started to research more about breast cancer, something I never knew before this diagnosis: If you happen to be a Black woman, you are 41% more likely to die from breast cancer than your white counterparts.”

“To all my sisters, Black and white and brown out there, please, for the love of God, get your mammograms every single year. Do your self-exams. Try to catch it before I did,” she urged.

The Miami Lakes, Fla. native co-anchors “CNN News Central” and serves as senior national correspondent. Sidner has reported from numerous countries as an international correspondent and was part of a team that won a Peabody for its coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Sara Sidner attends 17th Annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute at The American Museum of Natural History on December 10, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for CNN)

The award-winning anchor gained popularity for her on-the-ground reporting during the basic cable news networks’ live coverage of the Black Lives Matter/George Floyd protests in 2020. She was also struck by a rock in 2014 while reporting on the unrest in Ferguson, Mo. after a St. Louis grand jury refused to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the murder of 18-year-old Michael Brown.