|
Colorectal Cancer: Raising Awareness, Saving Lives
"The need I saw for colorectal
cancer awareness was so overwhelming, I thought if I could just save one
life it would be worth it"
She's not a physician, not a medical researcher, not a nurse, not even someone who works in a
hospital or laboratory. Yet, she's someone who has profoundly affected how we now view one of the
most preventable forms of cancer--colorectal cancer-and the potential life-saving effects of her
efforts are unparalleled. Who is she? Katie Couric, NBC's stellar broadcaster and co-anchor of the
Today show, who has risen from the sorrow of the death of her husband, attorney Jay Monahan, to colon
cancer in 1998, to spearhead a national awareness campaign of the importance of testing for that
malignancy.
The National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance (NCCRA) was co-founded in March 2000 by Katie
Couric, Lilly Tartikoff, and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) to raise awareness and
research dollars in the fight against colon cancer. The NCCRA supports cutting-edge research
conducted by leading scientists working on prevention, diagnostic tools, treatment, and ultimately, a
cure.
In fact, the NCCRA's public awareness campaign, highlighted by the Today show broadcast of Couric's
own colonoscopy in March of 2000, has been so successful-including an almost 20% increase in the
number of colonoscopy screenings--that University of Michigan researchers have dubbed this
phenomenon "the Couric Effect."
Three years ago, Couric spoke before the Senate Select Committee on Aging on the importance of
raising awareness of colorectal cancer and of saving lives. The impact of her words then was the
beginning of getting the word out about a disease too many people would rather not discuss. As she
told the Senators, "My world fell apart when my husband, Jay, was diagnosed with colon cancer in
1997. He had no family history of the disease. After an unbelievably courageous battle, he died
nine months later, just two weeks after his 42nd birthday. During this terrible struggle, motivated
by fear and desperation, I got a quick and painful education about this devastating disease. I
learned that colon cancer is the second leading cancer killer--147,000 people are diagnosed with it
every year, 57,000 of them die. It kills more people than any other cancer, with the exception of
lung cancer. Women get it, and are diagnosed at a rate slightly higher than men. Minorities get
it-African-Americans are at slightly higher risk. Young people get it-13,000 people under the age
of 50 are diagnosed every year. But I also learned that it has a 90% or better cure rate if it is
detected early... That means that colon cancer screening is a critical weapon in the fight against a
disease no one needs to die from."
One of the biggest problems about colorectal cancer is that no one really wants to talk about it,
perhaps because of embarrassment or lack of knowledge. Couric has recognized this fact and has made
it one of the mainstays of her awareness campaign-to educate people and to get them talking.
"Colons. Rectums. Bowels. Not exactly the stuff of cocktail party conversation. They're
embarrassed, and in this case, it could cost them their lives. But, not that long ago, people felt
uncomfortable talking about breast cancer and men rarely discussed their prostates. Now those
cancers are routinely discussed with family, friends, and most importantly, doctors. We have to do
the same for colon cancer."
But getting colorectal cancer out of the closet and into the lexicon is only part of the solution.
Although Couric's public awareness efforts have resulted in more than 400 media stories that have
been generated about colon cancer, including cover stories about "Katie's Crusade" in Time, Good
Housekeeping, and Biography, education is only part of the story. As Couric has said, "People need
to not only talk the talk, they need to walk the walk. And walking the walk means getting tested.
According to the CDC [Centers for Disease Control], a whopping 60% of people who should be screened
never have been. Some people find the procedures, like stool tests, flexible sigmoidoscopies, and
colonoscopies unappealing. I can tell you they are much more appealing than dying of this disease.
Nobody needs to die of embarrassment."
Couric's latest effort was 42nd & Vine: Hollywood Hits Broadway, a fundraiser that she sponsored
along with the EIF, which fulfilled their commitment to raise approximately $5 million toward the
creation of the Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Weill Cornell Medical Center, and to provide ongoing support to the NCCRA.
Held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, the event was headlined by leading stars from both
Hollywood and Broadway, including Robert DeNiro, Whoopi Goldberg, Kelsey Grammer, Kevin Kline,
Rebecca Luker, Bette Midler, Rita Moreno, Chita Rivera, Susan Sarandon, Kevin Spacey, Meryl Streep,
Robin Williams, and former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
"I can't say enough about all the talented people who put their time and energy into this event. It
was a collaboration like no other, and I am still awed at the generosity of all of the
participants," says Couric. "Moreover, thanks to our guests and underwriters, we have made huge
steps toward our financial goals at the Monahan Center-for me, that is what truly made this night so
special."
The Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health, scheduled to open in early 2004, will offer a
unique model of service for gastrointestinal cancers. It will be the first comprehensive, fully
integrated, and interdisciplinary program that stresses education and prevention, in addition to
diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal cancers. The Center's goal is to make dealing with the
difficult diagnosis of these cancers much easier for patients and their families.
"Our vision for the center was born out of my discussions with Dr. Mark Pochapin, Jay's
gastroenterologist," Couric says. "I discovered during Jay's illness that the journey following a
cancer diagnosis is often a traumatic and harrowing one. Searching for the latest information as
well as the best treatment options can be a daunting, if not impossible, task. It is my profound
hope that the Monahan Center will make it easier for families to contend with perhaps the worst
experience they will ever face by providing all the necessary resources under one roof with the
utmost compassion and care. The frantic running around from place to place only adds insult to
injury for patients and their families. That will be eliminated by having the Center function as a
one-stop shopping source of humanistic cancer-related care."
In a sense, then, Couric's caregiver role to a family member touched by cancer has evolved into a
more global one. Through her efforts to raise public awareness of colorectal cancer and to increase
the number of individuals screened, her caregiving continues, spreading the word in order to save
lives from colorectal cancer. As she sums up, "Every person screened is a potential life saved.
Knowledge is power."
|
