Before Katie Couric’s televised colonoscopy in 2000, she was most known for being a host on the Today Show. Now, she has an additional claim to fame—a personal essay about her journey as a cancer advocate.
On March 29, 2016, The American Journal of Gastroenterology (AJG) published Couric’s personal essay, “An Unexpected Turn: My Life as a Cancer Advocate,” to coincide with National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. The essay chronicles her experience losing her husband, Jay Monahan, to colon cancer. Monahan was a lawyer and TV commentator, and he passed away at the age of 42. Given that most adults get their first colonoscopy at the age of 50, Monahan’s case would be an example of young-onset colon cancer.
The essay describes Couric’s commitment to colon cancer education and advocacy and highlights the scope of her work to be a champion of colon cancer prevention. Using her notoriety, many media platforms and her own colonoscopy story, she has become a spokesperson for the colon cancer community. A study published in Archives of Internal Medicine by Dr. Peter Cram and colleagues noted a remarkable increase in the number of colonoscopies performed in the months after the 2000 broadcast, and it has been dubbed the "Couric Effect."
Just as active on the camera as off the camera, Couric co-founded the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance (NCCRA) to generate funds for colon cancer research, education and awareness. Partnering with organizations, companies and individuals, the NCCRA hopes to remove colon cancer from its place of prominence as the third-leading cause of cancer death in the United States.
"Thanks to her courage and candor, so many people associate Couric with colonoscopy and colorectal cancer prevention. It was a natural for a gastroenterology journal to share her reflections with our readers," added Brian E. Lacy, MD, PhD, FACG, AJG's co-Editor-in-Chief.
Couric has not stopped with colon cancer awareness. She recently co-founded Stand Up to Cancer, a nonprofit initiative of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (Source: PRNewswire).