Cancer - February 2015 Archives

Tips for cancer survivors on dating, new relationships A new relationship is challenging for anyone. A cancer diagnosis adds physical and emotional changes to ...

The 8th annual 26.2 with Donna Finish Breast Cancer Marathon is underway this weekend in Jacksonville, Fla. It's the only marathon in the country where ...

What every woman needs to know … and do In a study released Feb. 11, 2015, the AARP Public Policy Institute reported that BRCA genetic testing among women without breast cancer increased dramatically in the days after Angelina Jolie’s announcement that she carried the BRCA1 mutation and had an elective double mastectomy. Referred to among health care circles as the “Jolie Effect,” her openness led to increased awareness and action. When celebrities or other public figures talk freely about their medical journeys, it raises awareness of specific health issues and may facilitate patient-doctor conversations leading to more informed decision-making. MEDIA CONTACT: Joe Dangor, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu Amy Degnim, M.D., a breast cancer surgeon at Mayo Clinic, answers some of the important questions surrounding breast cancer genes:

Cancer survivors: Care for your body after treatment Simple changes to what you eat and how you move may help improve your health after ...

Unique Arrangement Aims to Build on the Success of Cologuard® Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS) and Mayo Clinic today announced a five-year extension and expansion of their collaboration, broadening their efforts to develop screening, surveillance and diagnostic tests beyond colorectal cancer to address other diseases within the gastrointestinal tract. The amended agreement extends the collaboration for five more years with David Ahlquist, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist, and his lab at Mayo Clinic. Exact Sciences will continue to have rights to certain intellectual property, including patents, know-how and new markers. The original June 11, 2009 agreement between Exact Sciences and Mayo Clinic led to the development of Cologuard, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved on August 11, 2014. Cologuard is the first and only FDA-approved stool DNA-based colorectal cancer screening test. “This unique collaboration is producing powerful results,” said John Noseworthy, M.D., president and CEO of Mayo Clinic. “The success of our teams in developing Cologuard exemplifies what can happen when two organizations combine their expertise and unite toward a single goal.” “By expanding our relationship with Mayo Clinic, we have an opportunity to build on our shared successes and continue looking for new opportunities to take on some of the deadliest forms of cancer,” said Kevin Conroy, CEO and chairman of Exact Sciences. “This collaboration and our ability to leverage both institutions’ distinctly different strengths is unique in American industry. But our ambitions cannot end with Cologuard. We expect our collaboration to continue producing breakthroughs that can change patients’ lives.” MEDIA CONTACTS: J.P. Fielder, Exact Sciences Corp.  (202) 746 6352  Jfielder@exactsciences.com Brian Kilen, Mayo Clinic 507-284-5005 newsbureau@mayo.edu            

ARLINGTON, Va. — Mayo Clinic and Virginia Hospital Center today announced Virginia Hospital Center as a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, a national network of organizations committed to better serving patients and their families through collaboration. Members of the network have access to Mayo Clinic knowledge and expertise to give their patients additional peace of mind when making health care decisions while continuing to offer the highest quality and value of care close to home. “Our collaboration with Mayo Clinic is a high honor for the physicians and staff of Virginia Hospital Center,” says James Cole, president & CEO, Virginia Hospital Center. “As the only Mayo Clinic Care Network hospital in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area with this relationship, we are excited to explore its potential for our patients and the community and advance our mission ‘To Be the Best Health System.’” “We began the network because Mayo Clinic wanted to work with those who saw collaboration as the way to better meet patients’ needs. It was clear to us from the outset that the doctors, nurses and entire staff at Virginia Hospital Center are committed to providing quality, patient-centered care, and that the organization would be a great addition to the Mayo Clinic Care Network,” says David Hayes, M.D., medical director, Mayo Clinic Care Network. MEDIA CONTACTS: Bryan Anderson, Mayo Clinic, 507-284-5005; Maryanne Boster, Virginia Hospital Center, 703-558-6595

The 2015 World Cancer Day campaign is focusing on four key areas: Choosing healthy lives Delivering early detection Achieving treatment for ...

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I often hear about colon cancer, but not a lot about rectal cancer. How is it diagnosed, and is it treatable? ANSWER: Rectal cancer is cancer that occurs in the last several inches of the colon, called the rectum. The primary treatment for rectal cancer is surgery and — depending on how advanced the cancer is — may also include radiation therapy and chemotherapy. If rectal cancer is caught early, the long-term survival rate is about 85 to 90 percent. Those numbers decline sharply if rectal cancer has spread to lymph nodes. Most rectal cancers begin as small, noncancerous growths of cells called polyps. Removing polyps before they become cancerous can prevent rectal cancer. That’s why timely colon cancer screening with a colonoscopy is important. Guidelines generally recommend that screening should begin at age 50. Your doctor may recommend more-frequent or earlier colon cancer screening if you have other risk factors, such as a family history of colorectal cancer.

Rochester, Minn. — Which breast cancer patients need to have underarm lymph nodes removed? Mayo Clinic-led research is narrowing it down. A new study finds that not all women with lymph node-positive breast cancer treated with chemotherapy before surgery need to have all of their underarm nodes taken out. Ultrasound is a useful tool for judging before breast cancer surgery whether chemotherapy eliminated cancer from the underarm lymph nodes, the researchers found. The findings are published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. In the past, when breast cancer was discovered to have spread to the lymph nodes under the arm, surgeons routinely removed all of them. Taking out all of those lymph nodes may cause arm swelling called lymphedema and limit the arm’s range of motion. Now, many breast cancer patients receive chemotherapy before surgery. Thanks to improvements in chemotherapy drugs and use of targeted therapy, surgeons are seeing more women whose cancer is eradicated from the lymph nodes by the time they reach the operating room, says lead author Judy C. Boughey, M.D. a breast surgeon at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. MEDIA CONTACT: Sharon Theimer, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, Email: newsbureau@mayo.edu Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Boughey are available in the downloads.