News Anchor Announces Rare Cancer Diagnosis Live On-Air

An Ohio TV station’s morning news anchor gave his viewers a shock on Tuesday.

“We’re going to end the show now with a little personal news for me to share. Just over a week ago, I was diagnosed with a pretty rare blood cancer,” anchor Nick Foley said, according to WHIO-TV.

Foley explained that he had multiple myeloma, a cancer that impacts blood plasma cells.

“To be totally honest, it’s pretty terrifying and challenging at the same time,” he said.

A co-anchor responded by saying, “We as a team want to say we are praying for you.”

Nick Foley announced that he’s been diagnosed with Myeloma, which is a cancer of the plasma cells. https://t.co/rVwQ25q3i1

— WHIO-TV (@whiotv) April 18, 2023

Foley later said he would fight the disease.

“The diagnosis is definitely a terrifying development but we’ve had time to process and my family has an incredible support system here in the Miami Valley and beyond. … I plan to follow treatment and radiation to the letter and get the condition under control,” he said.

Foley’s treatment plan will include five months of medication and treatment and 10 days of radiation, WHIO reported.

Foley said he plans to appear on the air as much as possible.

“I don’t plan on going anywhere and want my story to perhaps be a reminder to others to listen to their bodies and seek care immediately if something is not right,” he said.

In multiple myeloma, cancerous plasma cells grow in the bone marrow and produce abnormal proteins that harm the body, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The website Cancer.net puts the five-year relative survival rate for multiple myeloma in the U.S. at about 58 percent.

Multiple Myeloma Diagnosis- Survival Rates https://t.co/ROocpYRVFJ via @PBeatingCancer #myeloma

— PeopleBeatingCancer (@PBeatingCancer) April 11, 2023

The site noted that factors such as age, overall health and the stage at which the cancer is detected can all impact how well a person can fight the cancer.

On the WHIO website, Foley wrote that he has spent “25 years in the television news industry beginning my career in Northern Maine with stops in Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania as well.”

“I spent the better part of my first 15 years working in sports and had the fortune of covering three Super Bowls, an NBA Championship and a handful of PGA Tournaments. Most recently in news, I had stints in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Cleveland,” he wrote.