NBC's chief foreign affairs correspondent, Andrea Mitchel, announced live on air Wednesday that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer, urging women to get screened.

At the end of her show Andrea Mitchell Reports, she told viewers that the cancer has been detected early and that her prognosis is terrific, but she told women that screening matters. Do it, she said.

I had planned to be hiking in Wyoming last week, but instead discovered that I am now among the 1 in 8 women in this country - incredibly 1 in 8 - who have had breast cancer, she said.

Mitchell told viewers that she saw this as another of life's lessons. She emphasized the importance of screening saying that the disease can be completely curable if you find it at the right time.

As a result of early discovery Mitchell's cancer has not spread, enabling the veteran journalist to already be back at work.

Mitchell, 64, covers foreign policy, intelligence and national security issues. Veered the entire 2008 presidential campaign, from the kickoff in February 2007, broadcasting live from every major primary and caucus state and all the candidate debates for NBC News and MSNBC programs.

She also covered Barack Obama's trip to Iraq, the Middle East and Europe during the presidential campaign.

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