YouTube Shares a Message From Its Late CEO

Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki died in August at age 56, and on Monday, the YouTube team shared a message from her. Wojcicki, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2022, wrote the post in her final weeks and had intended to publish it in the fall. She didn't make it to that season, so the team published it on her behalf during what it points out is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. As current YouTube CEO Neal Mohan explains in an introduction to her piece, "Through Susan, I learned that lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer death in women. She wanted to change those odds. ... We're taking this opportunity to carry on Susan's mission." From her post:

• A seemingly unlikely diagnosis: "I had almost no symptoms and was running a few miles a day at the time," Wojcicki writes of learning she had lung cancer in 2022. "I had never smoked so I was totally shocked with this diagnosis."
• 'Dramatic' changes: She writes that she resigned as CEO immediately "to focus on my health and my family" and "was able to live an almost normal life, thanks to modern medicine." Though she continued to serve on a number of high-profile boards (including those of Salesforce, Waymo, and the Environmental Defense Fund), the bulk of her time was directed at cancer research.

• Her relationship with research: Wojcicki explains that prior to her diagnosis, she and her husband were already active cancer research supporters, but it was only after her diagnosis that "we quickly learned lung cancer was under researched and misunderstood." They directed millions to early detection research, new immunotherapy options, and more genotyping of patients.
• The math doesn't add up: Wojcicki wrote that in addition to being the No. 1 cause of cancer death in women, lung cancer is the second most common cancer in women—the majority of them nonsmokers. And yet NIH research funding on lung cancer equates to just $4,438 per death, compared to $19,869 for breast cancer and $9,135 for prostate cancer; colorectal and pancreatic cancer funding also outpaces it.
• More stats: CNN reports that research indicates lung cancer diagnoses are up 84% among US women in the past 42 years; in the same period, diagnoses have dropped 36% in men. Women who have never smoked are more than twice as likely to get lung cancer as men who have never smoked.
• Symptoms: CNN adds that symptoms often don't show up until the disease is advanced, but some common ones can include a persistent cough that worsens or won't go away, chest pain, shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing up blood, fatigue, and weight loss.
• The biggest lesson Wojcicki learned: "Just to focus and enjoy the present! Life is unpredictable for everyone, with many unknowns, but there is a lot of beauty in everyday life."

(Read her post in full here.)