Katie Couric, EIF's NCCRA Co-Founder, Discusses Findings at the American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Annual Meeting
PHILADELPHIA, May 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Women significantly underrate their
risk for colon cancer and are not as concerned about the disease as they
should be, according to a new Good Housekeeping survey conducted on behalf of
the Entertainment Industry Foundation's National Colorectal Cancer Research
Alliance (EIF's NCCRA).
Although almost the same number of women and men are diagnosed with colon
cancer every year (73,320 and 73,620 respectively), and nearly as many women
die from it as men (28,410 and 28,320), women tend to focus on the risk of
breast, ovarian and lung cancers and think of colon cancer as a "men's
disease," according to the survey.
Katie Couric, who launched EIF's NCCRA after her husband, Jay Monahan,
died of colon cancer in 1998, urged physicians attending the meeting to
educate their female patients about the importance of screening for colon
cancer. Colorectal cancer is curable more than 90 percent of the time when
the disease is detected early.
"Among the major forms of cancer, colon cancer is the equal opportunity
killer," said EIF's NCCRA co-founder Katie Couric in announcing results of the
survey to physicians at the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists 52nd Annual Clinical Meeting here today. "Women vastly
underestimate their risk for this disease. Given that gynecologists function
as the primary healthcare provider for many women, we are asking the OB-GYNs
for help in addressing this problem," Couric said.
The survey showed that more than a quarter of American women think that
men have a greater risk of colon cancer than women. While colon cancer is the
second-leading cause of cancer death among men and women combined, following
only lung cancer, only 13 percent of women responding to the survey realized
that colon cancer is one of the top two cancer killers.
The Good Housekeeping survey also showed that more than half of all women
don't know that colon cancer can be treated successfully if detected.
"The lack of knowledge about the prevalence of colon cancer among women
obviously has a direct bearing on whether women think it is important to get
screened for colon cancer, which is the best way to prevent or detect the
disease," Ms. Couric said. "We will save thousands of lives if screening for
colon cancer becomes routine."
Ms. Couric, who had her own colonoscopy televised on the TODAY show two
years ago, is credited with sparking a 20 percent increase in the number of
colonoscopies performed in the months following the broadcast. Researchers
dubbed it the "Couric Effect."
One reason many women don't get colonoscopies is that their doctors
haven't mentioned it, according to the survey. Roughly four in 10 women over
50 (39 percent) said their doctor never recommended that they be tested or
screened for colon cancer. More than a quarter of women over age 50 who
haven't had a colonoscopy said their doctor never told them they should have
one.
Conducted by Benenson Strategy Group, the survey was based on telephone
interviews with 400 randomly selected women over age 30 and was conducted
between April 15 and April 19. The survey has a margin of error of plus or
minus 4.9 percent.
Other findings of the survey include:
-- Sixty percent of women over age 30 have never had a doctor recommend
that they be screened for colon cancer.
-- Twenty-five percent of women over age 50 whose doctors recommended
colon cancer screening failed to obtain the tests.
-- Of the nearly two thirds (58 percent) of women who have both a family
doctor and an OBGYN, almost half (48 percent) have never discussed
colon cancer with either. And only 15 percent of women with a family
doctor and OBGYN said their OBGYN discussed the disease.
-- Nationwide, 63 percent of women over 30 have never had a colonoscopy.
-- When asked to name their biggest health concern, only one percent of
women said colon cancer. Heart disease was the most frequent response,
at 13 percent, followed by losing weight at nine percent and breast
cancer and diabetes at 7 percent each.
When women were read a list of types of cancers, they said breast cancer
was the type they worry about most, with 30 percent listing it as their top
cancer concern, followed by skin cancer (13 percent) and lung cancer (12
percent). Colon cancer was chosen by nine percent of women as the cancer they
were most personally concerned about.
About NCCRA
The NCCRA is dedicated to the eradication of colon cancer by promoting
education about the importance of early medical screening and funding
cutting-edge research to develop betters tests, treatments and ultimately, a
cure. The NCCRA was co-founded in March of 2000 by journalist Katie Couric,
cancer activist Lilly Tartikoff, and the Entertainment Industry Foundation.
As a result of the attention NCCRA and NBC's TODAY Show have focused on
colorectal cancer, the number of colonoscopy screenings has increased almost
20% since March 2000. Researchers at the University of Michigan have referred
to this as "the Couric effect." For more information visit http://www.eif.nccra.org.
About EIF
The NCCRA is a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. As the
philanthropic heart of the entertainment industry, EIF has distributed
hundreds of millions of dollars - and provided countless volunteer hours -- to
support charitable initiatives addressing some of the most critical issues
facing society today. For more information visit http://www.eifoundation.org.
About Good Housekeeping
Founded in 1885, Good Housekeeping is published by Hearst Magazines, a
unit of The Hearst Corporation (http://www.hearst.com) and one of the world's largest
publishers of monthly magazines, with a total of 18 U.S. titles and 133
international editions. Hearst's magazines are also read by more U.S. adult
women than any other monthly magazine publisher. The company also publishes
18 magazines in the United Kingdom through its wholly owned subsidiary, The
National Magazine Company Limited.
SOURCE Entertainment Industry Foundation's National Colorectal
Cancer
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Related links:
http://www.eif.nccra.org
CONTACT:
Judi Ketcik of EIF's NCCRA, +1-818-760-7722,
or cell, +1-818-262-1050; Richard Eisenberg of Good Housekeeping,
+1-212-649-2204; or Joel Benenson of Benenson Strategy Group,
+1-212-702-8777
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