Cancer - February 2015 Archives

Mucus. It isn’t pretty, but it’s a frontline weapon in the fight against the common cold and sinusitis. On this week’s Mayo Clinic Radio, ENT specialist ...

WHAT: On Friday, Feb. 27 at 10 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT, HBO will air a documentary from VICE Media entitled Killing Cancer, which follows pioneering cancer researchers including those at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. The broadcast will conclude with the announcement of a matching gift campaign established by the documentary’s host and producer Shane Smith to fund cancer research at Mayo Clinic. WHO: Shane Smith, CEO and founder of VICE Media, is no stranger to the impact cancer has on families. To honor his mother, a cancer survivor, Smith is establishing a $500,000 matching gift to fund cancer research at Mayo Clinic. WHERE: Gifts qualifying for the match can be made online here. WHEN: Gifts made between February 27 and April 28, 2015, qualify for this matching gift opportunity. MEDIA CONTACT: Joe Dangor, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284 5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu.

Cancer treatment and the heart Radiation treatment and chemotherapy can increase the chance of heart damage. Know the risks. Alternative cancer treatments: 10 options ...

On Friday, Feb. 27 at 10 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT, HBO will broadcast a documentary entitled Killing Cancer. VICE founder and host Shane Smith ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A decline in smoking rates may mean that many people who could have benefited from early detection of lung cancer are dying because they don’t qualify for low-dose CT scans, according to a group of Mayo Clinic researchers. Their research appears in the Feb. 24 issue of JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association. “As smokers quit earlier and stay off cigarettes longer, fewer are eligible for CT screening, which has been proven effective in saving lives,” says Ping Yang, M.D., Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. “Patients who do eventually develop lung cancer are diagnosed at a later stage when treatment can no longer result in a cure.” Dr. Yang says researchers and policymakers need to re-examine screening criteria to identify a greater proportion of patients who develop lung cancer. MEDIA CONTACT: Joe Dangor, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYkERiLwaP4&feature=youtu.be

Miss the show? Here is the podcast: Mayo Clinic Radio 02-28-15 PODCAST 40min mp3 Mucus. It isn’t pretty, but it’s a frontline weapon in the fight against the ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) affirmed her commitment to medical innovation and precision medicine today during a tour of the Mayo Clinic Biorepositories' new state-of-the-art space in northwest Rochester. "President Obama made precision medicine a common term ... and I'm delighted to be here to see first-hand the work that has been going here at Mayo Clinic for quite some time," Klobuchar said. "We need to continue to support medical research and fund the NIH—we increasingly are facing international competition." Obama announced the NIH's $270 million Precision Medicine Initiative on January 20 during this year's State of the Union Address, thrusting the relatively obscure medical term into the national spotlight and launching a national dialogue about medical innovation and genomics in clinical care. Klobuchar called the initiative "imperative" to the future of health care in the United States and a key component of the local and state economies. "America has always been a leader (in health innovation)," Klobuchar said. "We want those dollars, those jobs, right here in Rochester, in the Twin Cities."

Chemotherapy nausea and vomiting: Prevention is best defense Discover what you and your doctor can do to help prevent nausea and vomiting when you're undergoing ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A research team led by investigators from Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida, and the University of Oslo, Norway, have identified a molecule that pushes normal pancreatic cells to transform their shape, laying the groundwork for development of pancreatic cancer — one of the most difficult tumors to treat. Their findings, reported in Nature Communications, suggest that inhibiting the gene, protein kinase D1 (PKD1), and its protein could halt progression and spread of this form of pancreatic cancer, and possibly even reverse the transformation. “As soon as pancreatic cancer develops, it begins to spread, and PKD1 is key to both processes. Given this finding, we are busy developing a PKD1 inhibitor that we can test further,” says the study’s co-lead investigator, Peter Storz, Ph.D., a cancer researcher at Mayo Clinic. MEDIA CONTACT: Kevin Punsky, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0746. Email:punsky.kevin@mayo.edu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dg5bncTJsg ROCHESTER, Minn. — A study of more than 1,500 cigarette smokers who were not ready to quit smoking but were willing to cut back on cigarette consumption and combine their approach with varenicline (Chantix) increased their long-term success of quitting smoking. The multinational study is published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Jon Ebbert, M.D., associate director for research in the Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center, was lead author on the study that reported the effects of the prescription medication varenicline for increasing smoking abstinence rates among smokers who wanted to reduce the number of cigarettes they smoked before trying to quit completely. “This study is important because this opens the door to treatment for approximately 14 million smokers who have no intention of quitting in the next 30 days but are willing to reduce their smoking rate while working toward a quit attempt,” says Dr. Ebbert. “In the past, these smokers may have not received medication therapy, and we want them to know that different approaches are available.” Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Ebbert are available in the downloads. MEDIA CONTACT: Bryan Anderson, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005 Email: newsbureau@mayo.edu

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Cancer researchers at Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida, have identified a molecule they say is important to survival of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) — a lethal tumor with no effective therapies. The molecule also seems to play a role in a wide range of cancers. In an online issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, they identify Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) as an oncogenic enzyme that when inhibited and paired with another targeted drug effectively shuts down ATC cell growth and induces cell death. MEDIA CONTACT: Kevin Punsky, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0746. Email: punsky.kevin@mayo.edu

Mitzi Roberts, 48, of Mankato, Minn., has been a dancer all of her life. She’s made dancing her livelihood and owns the Dance Express dance studio. On top of her penchant for dancing and operating her business, she decided three years ago to add a Mankato-based dance competition fundraiser to her list of to-dos. However, she wasn’t prepared for the challenge that would appear on the scene during planning stages in the event’s second year. October 2013 Roberts was diagnosed with breast cancer. “It took the wind out of my sails for a day or two,” Roberts says of the diagnosis. But she quickly turned a corner and started thinking more optimistically. Roberts continued planning for the 2014 Dancing with the Mankato Stars, which helped keep her mind off the negatives. She also found hope in her Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato oncologist, Kevin Cockerill, M.D. Feb. 13, at the Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato, the two-person team took to the dance floor and competed in Dancing with the Mankato Stars to raise money for the American Red Cross. *They scored three "10's" and won the judge's choice!