Beloved TV anchor who shared cancer diagnosis live on air gives dramatic update on disease

Daily Mail​

29-04-2025

A beloved Chicago news anchor gave a positive update about his battle with cancer after opening up about his diagnosis last year.
WGN-TV reporter Mike Lowe's latest test results revealed that his colorectal cancer was no longer detectable after a yearlong battle with the disease.
'Getting those results, it was just the most amazing feeling,' Lowe told the Chicago Tribune.
'I think back to one year ago, when I went to the initial doctor's appointment... In some ways it feels like forever and in some ways, it feels like the blink of an eye - but what a year.'
Over the past year, Lowe has shared his journey with WGN, allowing cameras into his appointments and raising awareness about the disease.
The anchor shared his Stage 3 diagnosis on Instagram in May 2024.
'Cancer sucks, but it's growing on me. I wanted to let you know that I was diagnosed with Stage 3(c)/N+ colon cancer, and I'll be participating in a clinical trial with Northwestern Medicine,' he wrote at the time.
Lowe said that he would be undergoing radiation and chemotherapy for six months before undergoing surgery.
WGN-TV reporter Mike Lowe's latest test results revealed that his cancer was no longer detectable after a yearlong battle with the disease
He added that 'Stage 3 is serious,' noting that Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman died from Stage 3 colon cancer in 2020.
'But I'm staying 100 percent positive. I've got a great team of doctors, all of whom say this could be curable cancer...It's worth noting that colon cancer is rising rapidly in younger people (20s,30s, and 40s),' Lowe wrote, urging viewers to get a colonoscopy.
'I haven't even reached the age recommended for a routine screening, which is 45. So, if you're experiencing symptoms like constipation or abdominal pain, go see a doctor.'
The reporter told the Chicago Tribune that the alarming increase of colon cancer in young people is 'a public health crisis in this country.'
'Younger and younger people are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer,' he said.
Over the last 30 years, diagnoses of the disease in younger people have shot up by 80 percent across the globe, research suggests.
In contrast, rates of the disease in older groups, who are statistically more likely to be diagnosed with it, have either declined or remained stable over the same period.
People aged 54 or younger made up about 20 percent of colorectal cancer cases in 2019, a percentage that has doubled from 1995, according to the American Cancer Society.
As a journalist, Lowe felt a duty to report on his experience and spread awareness about the disease.
'It's my job to ask people about some of the worst experiences they have in their lives and be open and honest about it,' he told the Tribune.
'How I could do that for a living, and then when something like this happens to me, not be open and honest with the public about my own story?'
One of Lowe's doctors, Dr. Daniel Dammrich, said he's already seen how the anchor's segments have benefited people.
'He's just always been a great guy,' Dammrich told the Tribune. 'Mike has been extraordinarily brave to share his story, and there's no doubt in my mind that it's going to benefit a huge amount of people who are going to go for early colorectal cancer screenings so they can catch it in a time where we can intervene in a meaningful way.'
Lowe shared his journey with viewers and continued to work as much as possible while he was undergoing treatment.
'I wanted cancer to be something important that was going on in the background of my life but not completely dominating it,' he told the Tribune.
'If I could have a real purpose and go to work and feel like I was able to do it and do it well still, then I was going to do it no matter what.'
Lowe continued working as much as he could, including rushing from cancer treatments in the morning to work or keeping a zippered pouch across his chest which contained medicine moving through a tube to a port in his chest
He continued working as much as he could, including rushing from treatments in the morning to work or keeping a zippered pouch across his chest that contained medicine moving through a tube to a port in his chest.
'There were certain setbacks, but he just tackled each and every one of them and wanted to keep working as much as he could,' said WGN-TV News Director Dominick Stasi.
'He approached the whole thing with a positive attitude. It was really kind of inspiring.'
The anchor experienced increasingly difficult symptoms as his treatment continued, including nausea, numbness in his extremities, and peeling on his feet and palms.
But he rarely took much medical leave from his job and instead brought the camera crew with him.
'I wanted to kind of demystify cancer treatment or show exactly what it looks like,' Lowe told the Tribune. 'If you can help anybody understand what they're about to go through, I think that helps, and the position of a journalist is to do that, to explain things and make them more understandable.'
In January, after his treatments, he had an MRI and a sigmoidoscopy to see if the cancer was still present. If it was, he would next need to undergo surgery.
But he was given tentatively good news: The doctor couldn't see the tumor anymore, the Tribune reported.
The anchor experienced increasingly difficult symptoms as his treatment continued, including nausea, numbness in his extremities, and peeling on his feet and palms. But he rarely took much medical leave from his job and brought the camera crew with him instead
A follow-up colonoscopy and biopsies then revealed earlier this month that the cancer had receded.
'It was kind of like singing Hallelujah from the church balcony,' he told the outlet. 'It definitely felt amazing because up until that point I didn't know... I feel like it's the complete response I'd been hoping against hope for.'
While Lowe's journey isn't over, as he will need to continue to undergo tests ensuring that the cancer remains at bay, he hopes that sharing his story will help anyone in a similar position.
'I feel like I owe it to anyone who's dealing with cancer, if I can be the voice, whether it's for fundraising, awareness or even if it's just to comfort them, to show them, "Hey, you can get through this," because at the time you get the diagnosis, it doesn't always seem like that,' he told the Tribune.
'It seems like a pretty steep hill to climb. If I can continue to be that example to anyone, I want to continue to do that because I know how lucky I am to be through it.'