Robin Roberts breaks down on GMA over cancer research news: ‘It gives them hope’

Roberts reflected on her sister being a perfect match donor for her during her own cancer treatment.

Robin Roberts delivered moving news through tears on Thursday’s episode of Good Morning America.

The anchor and cohosts George Stephanopoulos and Lara Spencer presented an emotional story about a young girl who survived a harrowing cancer diagnosis thanks to new advancements in research relating to blood stem cell transplants, with Roberts ultimately breaking down in tears as she reflected on her own experience with cancer after her initial 2007 diagnosis.

Roberts’ reporting covered developments in finding donor matches for cancer patients — particularly people of color. The show highlighted research that indicated some patients no longer need a perfect-match donor for a transplant, which increases a person of color’s odds of finding a potential donor from between 47 and 60 percent to between 84 percent and 93 percent.

“One of the most crucial things about this research is that not needing a fully matched donor helps address the ethnic disparities in getting that crucial transplant, because I remember…” Roberts said, her voice trailing as tears welled in her eyes before she spoke about finding out that her sister was a “perfect match” for her transplant — a statistical rarity that Roberts said defied what was available to her on a registry.

“There was no one for me. So, if my sister had not been the match…” she continued. “Now, 10 years later, it’s amazing. I just know the families, it gives them hope.”

Roberts and the GMA crew have regularly highlighted news related to cancer on the show, including in December, when the program announced that record executive David Geffen and philanthropic businessman Kenneth C. Griffin made a $400 million donation to enhance cancer patient care at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.