Katie Couric A Tireless Advocate for Colon Cancer Awareness

From 1991-2006, Katie Couric was the face of morning television as the co-host of the TODAY show on NBC.

Today, she has become the face of something even more important: colon cancer awareness.

In 1998, colon cancer changed Couric's life forever when it claimed the life of her husband, Jay Monahan, at just 42 years old.

He was not diagnosed until it was in the advanced stages, and he died nine short months after.

Couric learned that routine colon screening could have saved her husband's life, and for the past 20-plus years, she has devoted her life to spreading awareness, promoting routine screening, and raising money for cancer research.

More recently, due to an alarming increase in colorectal cancer cases in people under 50, the recommendations for routine screening have been lowered from age 50 down to 45.

Now, Couric is stepping out in new ways to promote screening to a younger generation.

Spreading Awareness

In Couric's memoir, Going There, she gets deeply personal about the anger, frustration, hurt, and loss she experienced after her husband's diagnosis and untimely death.

She laments the signs she overlooked—the sensitive stomach, the fatigue, the weight loss.

She talks about her search for a cure, her bargains with God, and the regret she had that she and her young daughters (ages five and one at the time of Jay's death) wouldn't have more time with their father.

Ultimately, she determined to honor Jay's memory by becoming an advocate for cancer screening.

In 2000, Couric appeared before the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Aging in an effort to highlight the dangers of colon cancer and the importance of colon cancer screening.

"During this terrible struggle, I got a quick and painful education about this devastating disease. I learned that colon cancer is the second leading [cancer] killer. It kills more people than any other cancer, with the exception of lung cancer," Couric said in testimony before the Committee. "But I also learned that it has a 90% or better cure rate if detected early. That means that colon cancer screening is a critical weapon in the fight against a disease no one needs to die from."

That same year, she co-founded the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance (NCCRA) with anti-cancer activist Lilly Tartikoff and the Entertainment Industry Foundation.

The goal of the NCCRA was to fund research to develop better tests, treatments, and ultimately a cure—as well as to promote the life-saving value of screening.

Nothing brought more awareness to the value of screening than when Couric herself underwent a colonoscopy live on the TODAY show.

"Of everything I've done in my career, here is the thing of which I'm most proud: Studying the impact a public figure can have on health issues, the University of Michigan reported a 20% jump in colonoscopy screenings as a result of my airing the procedure. They called it the Couric Effect," she said in Going There. "But even more gratifying was unsolicited feedback from [my daughter] Ellie when she was just nine. ‘Mom, I'm so proud of the work you're doing with colon cancer.'"

New Risks for a New Generation

Screening is critical because colorectal cancer typically doesn't cause symptoms until it has already grown or spread, according to the American Cancer Society.

By the time symptoms appear—such as a change in bowel habits, blood in the stool, persistent abdominal discomfort, and unexplained weight loss—the cancer is often in advanced stages.

"Jay never really had any symptoms of colon cancer," Couric said, "other than being tired all of the time, which we chalked up to a busy lifestyle, having young children, and his coast-to-coast trips providing legal analysis for NBC."

This is why colon cancer continues to be one of the deadliest cancers—but it is also one of the most treatable when caught early with screening.

Colon cancer rates have been declining overall since the 1980s, no doubt due in part to Couric's relentless campaigning for screening.

Unfortunately, during that same time period, there has been an alarming increase in younger adults.

In adults ranging from 20-55 years of age, colon cancer incidence has been increasing by 1%-2% per year. Rectal cancer rates are rising even faster, at 2%-3% per year.

According to research conducted by the American Cancer Society, people born after 1990 have double the risk of colon cancer and quadruple the risk of rectal cancer, compared to those born in 1950.

These increases have led the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to change their screening guidelines from 50 years old down to 45 years old.

This change makes 45 million Americans above the age of 45 eligible for screening.

(Note: LifeExtension^® has always advocated for colonoscopy screening to begin at age 40. We did not agree with conventional medicine's guidelines to begin screening at age 50 nor do we concur with U.S. Preventive Services Health Task Force's new recommendation to begin screening at age 45 instead of age 50.)

Colon Cancer Screening at Home

With a new generation facingalarmingly increased rates of colorectal cancer, Couric is on a renewed mission to make the younger generation aware of the importance of early screening.

"Screening wouldn't have crossed our minds for Jay when he was diagnosed at 41," said Couric. "My hope is that we figure out a way to do even broader screening and that we can save even more lives. But until then, people need to pay attention, they need to talk to their doctors… And they need to get screened."

Couric, along with one of the organizations she co-founded, Stand Up To Cancer, is now promoting the at-home screening test, Cologuard^®, in a national TV commercial.

This at-home test detects altered DNA or blood in stools and is 92% accurate at detecting cancers. However, it only detects about 42% of precancerous polyps. It also had a 13% false positive rate.

While this could be a stepping-stone for increasing awareness and compliance (due to its less invasive nature), a traditional colonoscopy remains the gold standard of testing.

Colonoscopies are more than 90% effective at identifying colon cancer and the presence of precancerous polyps that can turn into
cancers.

One study in the British Medical Journal found that getting a colonoscopy was associated with a 67% reduced risk of dying from colorectal cancer.

In a recent interview with TODAY, Couric said, "The bottom line is that [early] screening saves lives. Early detection saves lives."

A Legacy to Be Proud Of

Beyond promoting early detection through screening, Couric has poured her efforts into finding a cure.

In 2008, she cofounded Stand Up To Cancer, a program whose mission is to raise funds to accelerate the pace of groundbreaking translational research that can get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now.

Couric says that, to date, they've raised over $600 million, and have helped gain FDA approval for nine new cancer drugs.

"I don't like to think about my obituary too often," said Couric. "But when I do, I hope the first line will be ‘Katie Couric was a tireless advocate for cancer awareness and research.'"

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References

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