You may be shocked to learn that colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States, despite being highly preventable, detectable and treatable. While incidence rates have dropped in the U.S. among adults 50 and older, an estimated 134,490 new cases were diagnosed last year.

FSCJ has pledged to help increase screening rates by supporting the 80% by 2018 employer challenge initiative, led by the American Cancer Society (ACS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable. Leveraging the energy of multiple and diverse participants, program partners seek to empower communities, patients and providers to increase screening rates among their employees and their families.

To help shine a light on the topic, Katie Couric, Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) co-founder and founder of NCCRT-member, the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance, has launched an exciting celebrity-filled awareness campaign for colorectal cancer screening. Daily through the month of March, a celebrity “get screened” video of the day will be posted on Katie Couric’s Instagram account. This content is also available on the Stand Up to Cancer YouTube page.

For more information about colorectal cancer screening, visit cancer.org/colon or contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345. For more information about the 80% by 2018 initiative, visit nccrt.org.