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National Breast Cancer Awareness Month - October is recognized nationwide as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a campaign dedicated to promoting awareness around the disease. In honor of this celebration of strength, we highlight some brave celebrities who have been affected by the disease. (Photos from Left: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for David Yurman, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Photo By Photos from Left: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for David Yurman

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Robin Roberts - The Good Morning America anchor is a breast cancer survivor because of an early detection in 2007. Roberts was later diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome and underwent a successful bone marrow transplant on September 20, 2012. Robin Roberts is a true warrior! (Photo: Michael Tran/FilmMagic)

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Wanda Sykes - On an episode of Ellen, the comedienne revealed she’d undergone a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2011. Explaining how a breast reduction saved her life, she said, "It wasn't until after the reduction that, in the lab work, the pathology, that they found that I had DCIS [ductal carcinoma in situ] in my left breast... I was very lucky." (Photo: Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

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Vanessa Bell Calloway - In 2014 actress Vanessa Bell Calloway, from the original Broadway Dreamgirls and Showtime’s Shameless, opened up about being diagnosed with breast cancer four years prior. Calloway, 55, was “diligent” in getting her pap smears and mammograms and admits that she was “stunned” with her diagnosis. (Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

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Zoleka Mandela - Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter Zoleka shared in her recent memoir that she had a bilateral mastectomy and underwent chemotherapy in 2013. Sadly, her cancer returned in 2016, which she fought for several years. In September 2023, she passed away at 43 years old, but her fight and advocacy will live forever. (Photo: BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

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Roxie Roker - Known for pushing boundaries and breaking barriers on the classic comedy The Jeffersons, Roxie Roker, mother to rocker Lenny Kravitz, died of breast cancer in 1995 at the age of 66. (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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Audre Lorde - Famous poet, Black feminist and LGBT advocate Audre Lorde was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy. Yet, at 58, she passed away in 1992 due to complications of liver cancer. (Photo: Robert Alexander/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

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Nina Simone - Known for her raspy voice and bold politics, singer Nina Simone suffered from breast cancer for several years until she died at the age of 70 in 2003. (Photo: Ian Showell/Getty Images)

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Hoda Kotb - NBC anchor Hoda Kotb was diagnosed in 2006 and became a breast cancer survivor. Though she overcame the hurdle of the disease, she cites the real battle in the healing process. "The healing from the surgery was hardest," she said in 2008. "They said it was going to feel like you've been hit by a Mack truck. Luckily I've never had to experience that, but I can see where they're coming from." (Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for AHA)

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Patti LaBelle - The legendary singer was never diagnosed with breast cancer. However, she lost three sisters to the disease. (Photo: Lisa Lake/Getty Images)

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Richard Roundtree - Blaxploitation film icon Richard Roundtree discovered he was among the one percent of men diagnosed with a male form of breast cancer in 1993. After remaining silent about his diagnosis for five years, the Being Mary Jane actor decided to go public with his diagnosis at a golf tournament. "I just got up and told everybody... The room was totally silent. I think it dawned on people that men can be affected by this too," he said. The 81-year-old is still with us today and still acting. (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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Minnie Riperton - After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1976, iconic singer Minnie Riperton was given only six months to live. The year before, she’d scored her biggest hit with the song “Lovin' You.” Riperton (also the mother of actress Maya Rudolph) became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. She died from her illness in 1979 at 31. (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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Naomi Sims - One of first Black supermodels, Naomi Sims, also battled breast cancer. She succumbed to the illness in Newark, N.J., on August 3, 2009, when she was just 61 years old. However, her iconic legacy lives on forever. (Photo: Anthony Barboza/Getty Images)

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Lil' Mama - The young rap star lost her mother to breast cancer in 2007. Since then, Lil' Mama’s become an advocate for awareness of the disease. In 2011, she said, "It's a blessing to have had her in my life for as long as I did. It's really tough to become a teenager without your mom, let alone a woman. It's not easy." (Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)

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Nas - In 2002, Nas’s mother, Ann Jones, died of breast cancer. On his critically acclaimed 2002 album God’s Son, she was the inspiration for several songs, including the aptly titled "Warrior's Song," which saw the rapper emotionally explain her passing: "Earlier this year I buried my queen in a gold casket/ Your mother's the closest thing to/ God that you ever have kid I'm askin', what would you do at your own mom's funeral/ Wanna pick her up out of it, this can't be real," he rapped. (Photo: Stefanie Keenan/WireImage)

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Hattie McDaniel - The first Black actress to win an Oscar in 1940 died from breast cancer at the age of 57 on October 26, 1952. (Photo: Ben Polin/CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)