Maria Menounos, the Emmy Award-winning TV host, author, and podcaster, faced a harrowing battle with pancreatic cancer, but early detection proved critical to her survival. Her experience has fueled her advocacy for increased cancer screening, particularly with Exact Sciences’ multi-cancer blood test, Cancerguard. Menounos’ journey highlights the life-saving potential of proactive health measures, especially for cancers lacking routine screening methods.
From Brain Tumors to Pancreatic Cancer: A Decade of Health Battles
Menounos’ health struggles began in 2016 when her mother, Litsa, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. While caring for her mother, Menounos herself developed symptoms – ear pain, headaches, and blurred vision – leading to the discovery of a meningioma, a typically benign brain tumor. Both mother and daughter had brain tumors, a startling coincidence.
Fast forward to 2022, Menounos began experiencing unexplained bloating and abdominal pain. Initial tests, including endoscopy and CT scans, came back inconclusive. Frustrated, she took matters into her own hands, pursuing additional screening that ultimately revealed a rare neuroendocrine tumor in her pancreas.
A Rare Cancer, Early Detection, and Grueling Surgery
Pancreatic cancer often carries a grim prognosis, but Menounos’ diagnosis was unique. Instead of the more common adenocarcinoma, she had a neuroendocrine tumor, and crucially, it was detected at stage 2, before spreading. This made surgical removal a viable option.
The surgery was extensive, lasting 10 hours and involving the removal of part of her pancreas, surrounding lymph nodes, her spleen, and a large fibroid. Despite the grueling procedure, Menounos recovered well, welcoming her daughter Athena via surrogate later that year.
The Power of Proactive Screening
Menounos attributes her survival to early detection. “If I hadn’t gone through the additional screenings, I might not be here right now,” she stated. This conviction led her to advocate for expanded cancer screening, particularly for cancers lacking routine methods like pancreatic, lung, esophageal, and gastric cancers.
The Heal Squad and Exact Sciences Partnership
Menounos now hosts The Heal Squad podcast, empowering listeners to take control of their health and navigate the U.S. healthcare system. She has also partnered with Exact Sciences to promote Cancerguard, a multi-cancer blood test that screens for biomarkers associated with over 50 cancer types.
The Promise and Limitations of Multi-Cancer Early Detection
Cancerguard, like Grail’s Galleri test, offers a potential breakthrough in early detection. However, it is not foolproof. The test has an overall sensitivity of 64%, dropping to 39% for early-stage cancers. Despite these limitations, a 39% chance of detecting cancer early is still better than no screening at all.
Currently, routine screening is limited to a handful of cancers: breast, prostate, skin, colon, and lung. Multi-cancer early detection tests could significantly expand these capabilities, catching more cancers before they spread. While these tests are still in their early stages, the benefits of early detection are clear.
Ultimately, Menounos’ story underscores the life-saving potential of proactive health measures and the need for expanded cancer screening, especially for cancers that currently slip under the radar
