ESPN reporter Shelley Smith, on the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness month, revealed that she’s battling breast cancer.

Shelley Smith Announces Breast Cancer Battle

Smith took to Twitter to make her announcement Wednesday, writing, “I now join the one in eight women who are battling breast cancer. Early detection will save my life. Tell loved ones.”

Smith’s cancer treatments will begin in January, and the sports journalist, who has been with ESPN since 1997, plans on keeping a positive attitude throughout the process.

Using her platform as a well-known media personality, Smith stressed the importance of early detection in beating cancer. She encourages women to check all of the warning signs.

Smith is the latest in a string of media personalities to publically reveal their battle with cancer. Recently, Smith spoke with Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts, who beat her own cancer diagnoses. Former Good Morning America host Joan Lunden is chronicling her breast cancer battle on her blog and posed on the cover of People magazine bald to raise awareness and remove the stigma of the effects of chemotherapy.