Channel Seven star Mel McLaughlin appears in good spirits as she is spotted for the first time since revealing lung cancer diagnosis

Mel McLaughlin has been spotted out and about for the first time since revealing her shock lung cancer diagnosis.

She revealed her lung cancer diagnosis in a Seven News interview with Mark Ferguson in March. 

And the Channel Seven sports reporter, 46, appeared in good spirits this week as she enjoyed a brisk walk in Sydney.

Mel cut an athletic figure, stepping out in a blue Nike tank top paired with red shorts featuring white piping. 

Completing the active look, Mel wore a pair of white sneakers and a blue and white Riyadh Air baseball cap.

Wearing her brunette locks up under her cap, Mel accessorised with a pair of tinted sunglasses.

As she pounded the pavement, Mel was also spotted scrolling on her phone.      

Mel revealed in March that she had undergone surgery to remove a malignant tumour from her lung, along with a large section of the organ, despite never having smoked. 

Mel lost her older sister, Tara, to the same disease in 2015 at the age of 39, leading her to work as an ambassador for the Lung Foundation Australia. 

Neither woman was a smoker and doctors believe there may be a genetic link that led the siblings to suffer from the same illness ten years apart. 

'I was diagnosed with lung cancer in December. So that's led to surgery. I've had half my lung cut out,' Mel said.  

'It's very traumatic. It's very triggering. It's a lot of emotions. And also you don't want to worry anyone.' 

Mel explained it was utterly heartbreaking sharing the news of her own diagnosis with her family at Christmastime, after the death of her sister, who was a mother of two.

'In our family, lung cancer meant death. We had one example, and we lost her,' McLaughlin said, becoming emotional. 

Mel said having surgery to remove the tumour, as well as part of her lung, at the same North Shore hospital where her sister lost her own battle was a bitter irony for the TV star. 

'I cried, and then I laughed. Is this a joke?' Mel said.

Mel's cancer was caught in the early stages and she qualified for surgery, while for her sister, the diagnosis had come too late. 

'Maybe I got lucky. Maybe that was my sister. I definitely think she was with me. That's what they do. Big sisters and big brothers, look out for you,' she said. 

Most astonishingly, Mel continued to work on the air until the day before her operation, hosting Melbourne's Boxing Day Test and then Sydney's Pink Test in early January, in between rushing off for blood tests and scans. 

 With her cancer caught early, the prognosis is positive. 

'Recovery is slow but good. They're happy for now,' Mel said cautiously. 

Mel added that she hopes to return to work in July to host the Commonwealth Games and later, the Rugby League World Cup in October. 

For now, her aim is now to raise awareness for a stigmatised illness. 

'The reason I want to do it was not to talk about me. It's awareness. It's the biggest cancer killer in the country, but it's got a terrible stigma,' she said. 

'I feel like I owe it to my sister. I owe it to people who maybe could get something out of this.'