Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has teamed up with the nation’s leading nonprofit dedicated to colon cancer, the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, and Ryan Reynolds’ creative agency, Maximum Effort, to Lead From Behind.
Lead From Behind is a series of unique and creative videos featuring celebrities in sports and entertainment spreading awareness that colon cancer is “The Preventable Cancer” and that there are a variety of screening options available.
Prescott, whose mother died from colon cancer in 2013, joined the Lead From Behind initiative to tackle the important topic with “Sh*t Talk,” an entertaining video to reduce the stigma and break down the barriers to screening — that thing that almost no one wants to talk about, let alone do. In the video, Prescott turned talking sh*t into a positive and underscored the importance of screening for colon cancer prevention.
“Losing my mother to colon cancer was devastating, and no one should have to go through that,” Prescott said. “That’s why I started the colon cancer screening and research pillar of my Faith Fight Finish Foundation. Partnering with the Colorectal Cancer Alliance and Lead From Behind is another way I can let people, especially Black Americans who are at greater risk, know that colon cancer is preventable and there are a variety of screening options.”
The Colorectal Cancer Alliance and its celebrity partners — including Prescott, Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, and Terry Crews — encourage people to visit LeadFromBehind.org to view and share the video on their social channels, and tag someone they love who should get screened. The site also offers a helpful screening tool, which provides more information on an individual’s risk factors, potential symptoms, and screening choices.
“I’d like to thank Dak for joining Rob McElhenney, Terry Crews, and me in helping raise awareness for dropping your drawers,” Reynolds said. “This is a highly preventable cancer, and the more we advocate for and destigmatize the colorectal screening process, the more real lives are saved.”
The preventable cancer
Colon cancer is the second-deadliest cancer in the United States, yet it is highly treatable and preventable with screening. Depending on a person’s risk factors and preferences, there are different choices for screening, including easy-to-use at-home tests and colonoscopy.
Cologuard is an at-home test that detects DNA and blood in the stool, and is available for adults 45 and older at average risk. A fecal immunochemical test (FIT) is an at-home test that detects blood in the stool, and a colonoscopy is a medical procedure that uses a camera to examine the colon.
Colon cancer has a greater than 90% survival rate with early detection and treatment. Disparities limit access to equitable screening and treatment for many, particularly Black and other demographics of Americans who are disproportionately underserved and overburdened by the disease. Black Americans are 15% more likely than non-Hispanic whites to get colorectal cancer and 35% more likely to die from it.
In an effort to decrease disparities and improve outcomes among those with significant barriers to quality care, the Colorectal Cancer Alliance is launching a Health Equity Fund. The Health Equity Fund will aim to increase the Alliance’s impact by offering free or low-cost screening options to more Americans in need, expanding financial assistance for patients during treatment, enabling innovative research to identify reasons for and solutions to disparities, and connecting those most in need with high-quality and potentially lifesaving screening and treatment options.
“The mission of the Alliance is to end colorectal cancer in our lifetime,” said Michael Sapienza, CEO of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. “By raising awareness for screening options and prevention through Lead From Behind and decreasing disparities through the Health Equity Fund, we are making significant strides in achieving that mission.”
To learn more about screening options, share Dak’s video, and help make a difference, go to LeadFromBehind.org.
