As co-founders of Stand Up To Cancer, we are well accustomed to expressing concern for those who are diagnosed with cancer. But when it happens to one of us, it gets very personal.

We received the recent news of Katie Couric’s breast cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment first with concern, then with hope, and finally gratitude. Concern that yet again, one of our colleagues and Stand Up To Cancer co-founders must contend with a disease that we each have committed to defeat through a combination of cutting-edge research and wide popular support.

When we learned that Katie’s cancer was detected early and is of a type that is readily treatable, that concern turned to hope.

And finally, gratitude. For the outstanding care she is fortunate to receive, for the optimistic prognosis her doctors offered, and for the effective treatments now available—some the product of research funded by Stand Up To Cancer—that today enable so many women to survive a breast cancer diagnosis.

Katie Couric is not only a driving force behind this organization. She is one of the most outspoken and persuasive advocates for preventive screening. When she aired her colonoscopy on the Today Show in 2000, the number of people getting the procedure jumped by 20 percent. We’re confident that her sharing the story of her breast cancer diagnosis will have a similar effect.

Thank you to all those who have contacted Stand Up To Cancer with good wishes for Katie. But please don’t stop there. If you’re overdue for a mammogram, schedule one now. Encourage those you care about to get screened. And if you’re inclined to support SU2C’s work to bring innovative treatments to cancer patients as quickly as possible, consider donating.

Everyone in the Stand Up To Cancer community joins in wishing our friend and colleague Katie Couric well. We thank her for her honesty and candor in sharing her personal cancer journey. Most of all, we’re grateful to all those who support our mission to turn every cancer patient into a long-term survivor.

– Sherry Lansing, Kathleen Lobb, Lisa Paulsen, Rusty Robertson, Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, Ellen Ziffren