Katie Couric's Breast Cancer Journey

Katie Couric is an American journalist and author, best known for co-hosting NBC’s Today show. She revealed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022.

Couric is an American journalist and author. She rose to fame when she became co-host of NBC’s Today Show. Couric was also the first female to become a solo anchor of the CBS evening news program.

Aside from her prolific broadcasting career, Couric also founded Katie Couric Media, a digital media platform which she uses to publish news, interviews and videos. She also hosts her own podcast, Next Question with Katie Couric, where she interviews journalists, experts and public figures to explore current affairs.

Moreover, Couric authored a few books, with her 2011 self-help book The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives becoming a New York Times best seller. She also wrote a memoir titled Going There in 2021, sharing her deep personal stories and the struggles she faced in her life.

In 2022, Couric revealed through a personal essay, titled Why NOT me?, on her website that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She shared that a routine mammogram in June that year was what led to her cancer diagnosis. She had missed a few mammograms prior due to the COVID pandemic.

A follow-up biopsy from her mammogram results revealed that Couric had early-stage breast cancer. She was on the phone with her doctor when she first heard the news. Couric wrote, “I felt sick and the room started to spin. I was in the middle of an open office, so I walked to a corner and spoke quietly, my mouth unable to keep up with the questions swirling in my head.”

Couric shared that she had a family history of cancer. Her late husband, Jay Monahan, had colon cancer, her sister had pancreatic cancer and her mother-in-law had ovarian cancer, all of whom have since passed on. Her mother was also diagnosed with mantle cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and her father with prostate cancer. Fortunately, both of them have recovered well after treatment.

Couric also added that her current husband, John Molner, "had a tumor the size of a coconut on his liver" which was removed before their wedding in 2014.

She wrote, “Given my family’s history of cancer, why would I be spared? My reaction went from ‘Why me?’ to ‘Why not me?’”

Following her diagnosis, Couric underwent a lumpectomy and several rounds of radiation therapy.

“I was warned that I may be fatigued and my skin may turn a little pink,” Couric wrote. “My left breast does look like I’ve been sunbathing topless, but other than that, I’ve felt fine.”

Fortunately, her treatment went well and she was declared cancer-free.

Colon cancer

Couric has been an active advocate of colorectal cancer screening ever since her first husband, Jay Monahan, passed away from colon cancer. In an interview with USA Today, she shared her regrets from the time when she was taking care of Monahan.

"My biggest regret, I think, was that I never really talked to my husband about the possibility that he might die, quite frankly. We never had those hard conversations," Couric shared. "I wish we had gone to talk to somebody who could have helped facilitate that kind of conversation, honestly, because the only way I knew to deal with Jay's illness was to not give up hope and keep saying, 'We'll figure this out.'"

Since then, Couric has been actively raising awareness on colorectal cancer. In 2000, she had televised her own colonoscopy on the TODAY show, encouraging people to undergo screening.

"We're seeing people in their early 40s, in their 30s and even their 20s being diagnosed with this disease," Couric shared. "It's absolutely critical that at the first sign of any symptom, people go see their doctor and bring up or question whether it could be colorectal cancer."

Couric also co-founded Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C), a non-profit organisation that aims to raise awareness and funds for cancer.

Breast cancer

While undergoing her mammogram in 2022, Couric initially was filming the process, in hope to raise awareness on the importance of breast cancer screening. However, the filming stopped when her doctor found scar tissues in her breast.

“This wasn’t exactly new territory for me. You might remember I aired my colonoscopy on the TODAY show in 2000. After that segment, the number of people getting colonoscopies increased by 20 percent. If I had forgotten to schedule a mammogram, this might be a helpful reminder for other people, too,” she shared.

Since her recovery, Couric has also been actively advocating for early breast cancer screening, using her platform to raise awareness on the disease.