NBC’s chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell announced on air today that she has undergone treatment for breast cancer, a disease, she pointed out, that affects one in eight American women.

“On a personal note, or how I spent my summer vacation, I had planned to be hiking in Wyoming last week but instead discovered that I am now among the one in eight women - incredibly, one in eight - who’ve had breast cancer,” Mitchell said at the end of her MSNBC show, “Andrea Mitchell Reports.”

Mitchell, 64, said her doctor caught the cancer in its “earliest stages,” that it “has not spread” and that she has a “terrific prognosis.”

“Mine was discovered during my annual screening just a short time ago. Luckily for me, I’m one of the fortunate ones,” Mitchell said.

The NBC correspondent, who has been with NBC for more than 30 years, said breast cancer prevention and finding a cure has always been an important cause for her, and she urged women to get regular breast cancer screenings.

“For years, I participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and other events in solidarity with friends and other survivors,” she said. “Now my connection to that community is personal and much deeper.”

According to National Cancer Institute, the survival rate for women who are diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer, such as Mitchell,  is 98.6 percent. Once the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, the chance of survival decreases to about 84 percent.

“For you women out there and for the men who love you, screening matters. Do it. This disease can be completely curable if you find it at the right time,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell did not say what kind of treatment she had undergone but noted that she is “already back at work” and will “see all of you tomorrow.”