Tom Brokaw reveals cancer diagnosis; doctors are 'optimistic'

Former NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw is being treated for cancer, but doctors are very encouraged by the progress he is making, NBC said Tuesday.

Brokaw, 74, was "diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer affecting blood cells in the bone marrow, in August at the Mayo Clinic," the network said.

"His doctors are optimistic about the outcome of the treatment he is receiving, and Brokaw said he remains 'the luckiest guy I know,'" it said.

Brokaw sat in the anchor chair of the "NBC Nightly News" from 1982 until he stepped aside in 2004 to serve as a special correspondent for the network. He joined NBC as a reporter in 1966.