Katie Couric has revealed she was diagnosed with stage 1A breast cancer this summer.
The previous Today show host took to Instagram to announce her diagnosis, explaining that she received the news during a routine mammogram and ultrasound. In the photo in her post, Couric can be seen sitting in a hospital waiting room wearing a face mask and robe.
“Every two minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. On June 21, I became one of them,” she wrote on the post.
“As we approach #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth, I wanted to share my personal story with you all and encourage you to get screened and understand that you may fall into a category of women who needs more than a mammogram.”
In a note on her website, Couric said her doctor urged her to have a mammogram after telling the doctor she hadn’t been screened since 2020.
During the appointment, Couric recorded routine tests to encourage others to take the test (the same as when she once got a colonoscopy on the Today show).
But after the accompanying mammogram and ultrasound, Couric’s doctor asked her to stop filming after she found “something here that I’d like to check out.”
A biopsy was performed. Later, Couric received a call from her doctor, who confirmed the news: the lump was cancerous.
“I felt sick, and the room started to spin,” she said. “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.”
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Couric Experienced Cancer Before
Couric had experienced the disease in the past. Jay Monahan, her first husband, died of colon cancer in 1998, and Emily Couric, her sister, died due to pancreatic cancer three years after, in 2001. Her mother was also diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; she battled it for a decade while her father received treatment for prostate cancer.
“My mood quickly shifted from disbelief to resignation,” Couric continued. “Given my family’s history of cancer, why would I be spared? My reaction went from ‘Why me?’ to ‘Why not me?’”
But Couric found that her tumor was “hormone receptor-positive, Her2neu-negative, and highly treatable, particularly if it was detected early.”
She underwent two pre-op procedures ahead of being given “breast conservation” surgery and started radiation in September, which ended on Wednesday.
“Why am I telling you all this? Well, since I’m the ‘Screen Queen’ of colon cancer, it seemed off to not use this as another teachable moment that could save someone’s life,” she said.
“Please get your annual mammogram. I was six months late this time. I shudder to think what might have happened if I had put it off longer. But just as importantly, please find out you need additional screening.”
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