Investigating Clinical Trials, Treatments and Facing Cancer Setbacks with Katie Couric

In 2001 when he received a diagnosis of colorectal cancer, Katie Couric’s husband, Jay, had such a poor prognosis that clinical trials were just out of reach. The legendary broadcast journalist Katie Couric reflects on how she and her colleagues conducted their own investigation into the world of cancer and used their expertise to get Jay the best help they could.

Couric sat down with CURE® to discuss the setbacks they faced when pursuing new treatment and clinical trials for her husband.

“(Jay) wasn’t eligible for many clinical trials and honestly, at the time, there weren’t that many (clinical trials) going on,” Couric recalled. “Oftentimes back then you had to have not tried anything else to be enrolled in a clinical trial.”

Couric persisted, calling everywhere she could think of, including Harvard, biotech and pharmaceutical companies and even a university in Tel Aviv that was conducting research that could possibly treat her husband’s condition.

“When Jay was sick, because many of my friends and colleagues were journalists and researchers, they really fanned out and did a ton of research and a ton of exploration into science and clinical trials,” said Couric. Unfortunately, the clinical trial road didn’t pan out at the time because of limited availability of and barriers to enrollment in clinical trials at the time Jay received his diagnosis.

“It was as if we were doing a huge news special on cancer and wanted to know all the latest information,” added Couric.