RICHMOND, Va. -- Joan Lunden rose to fame in the 1980s as the host of Good Morning America. She also survived breast cancer.
Lunden served as the keynote speaker Tuesday at the Massey Cancer Center's 23rd Annual Women & Wellness Breakfast and Luncheon at the Jefferson Hotel. Over the years, the event has raised millions of dollars for Massey and cancer research.
The daughter of a cancer surgeon, Lunden said her 2014 diagnosis was stunning.
She had pushed to get an ultrasound, along with her mammogram, because she knew she had dense breast tissue.
Dense tissue can mask cancer during a mammogram.
"Every woman watching, if you're getting a mammogram and you don't know what your breast density is call your lab and ask," Luden advised. "I'm here, just to be that little gnat going from city to city to city, to remind women that we have to be breast cancer aware and never be nonchalant."
Virginia is one of about 30 states where doctors are required to notify women if they have dense breast tissue.
