Cancer - March 2015 Archives

Cancer treatment and fertility  Some cancer treatments can affect your ability to have children. If you're planning to have a family, know your fertility ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkOkg3Ok5aE Mayo Clinic oncologist and gynecologic surgeon Jamie Bakkum-Gamez, M.D., is available to provide context for reporters wishing to better understand preventive surgery for gynecologic cancers. This is in light of actress Angelina Jolie’s announcement she had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed as a cancer prevention strategy. MEDIA: To interview Dr. Bakkum-Gamez, contact Joe Dangor at 507-284-5005 or e-mail newsbureau@mayo.edu Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Bakkum-Gamez are available in the downloads.

In today's Mayo Clinic News Network Headline with Vivien Williams: A Mayo Clinic study shows tampons may be key to detecting endometrial cancer - Jamie Bakkum-Gamez. M.D., lead author ...

Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Fla. has been recognized as one of four Cancer Centers of Excellence to be designated by the State of Florida. The announcement was made Monday by state Surgeon General and Secretary of Health Dr. John Armstrong.   The Cancer Center of Excellence designation recognizes Mayo Clinic and three other cancer centers for demonstrating a commitment to excellence by providing patient-centered coordinated care for those undergoing cancer treatment and therapy in Florida. The goal of the program is to encourage excellence in cancer care in Florida, attract and retain the best cancer care professionals to the state, and help Florida organizations to be recognized nationally as a preferred destination for quality cancer care. In addition to being recognized as a newly designated Cancer Center of Excellence, Mayo Clinic is also one of only two National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers in Florida. Media Contact: Paul Scotti, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0199. Email: scotti.paul@mayo.edu Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Smallridge are available in the downloads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twnikc19N2E

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Researchers at Mayo Clinic have shown that it is possible to detect endometrial cancer using tumor DNA picked up by ordinary tampons. The new approach specifically examines DNA samples from vaginal secretions for the presence of chemical “off” switches — known as methylation — that can disable genes that normally keep cancer in check. The finding is a critical step toward a convenient and effective screening test for endometrial cancer, which is the most common gynecologic malignancy in the United States. The results are published in the journal Gynecologic Oncology. “Unfortunately, there is no equivalent to a Pap smear or a mammogram for endometrial cancer,” says Jamie Bakkum-Gamez, M.D., a gynecologic oncologist at Mayo Clinic and lead author of the study. “We know that the earlier a woman is diagnosed, the better the likelihood is that she is going to have a positive outcome from cancer treatment. Our goal is to use our findings to develop a tool for the early detection of endometrial cancer that women could use in the comfort of their own homes.” MEDIA CONTACT: Joe Dangor, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu Journalists: Several sound bites with Dr. Bakkum-Gamez are available in the download link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiRs12umn2w

Colon cancer remains the second-leading cause of cancer death among both men and women in the U.S. On this week's program, we hear about #strongarmselfie, ...

  Colon cancer ...

Tips on honest communication after cancer treatment Reach out to family and friends, tell people what you need and communicate truthfully after being treated ...

Mayo Brothers Flex against Colorectal Cancer in “Stronger Than That” Video  Mayo Clinic’s founders join patient activists, celebrities, employees from all three Mayo Clinic sites and two iconic American statues in a new music video supporting the #StrongArmSelfie campaign to promote colorectal cancer screening. The video is based on “Stronger Than That,” the song BBR Music Group's Craig Campbell wrote and recorded to support the Fight Colorectal Cancer awareness campaign. Campbell is donating all proceeds from download sales of the song to @FightCRC, and Bayer Healthcare is giving @FightCRC $1 for each #StrongArmSelfie photo or brief video posted publicly to Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Flickr or Vine, up to a maximum of $25,000. The Mayo Clinic production combines video clips of Mayo staff and #StrongArmSelfie social network posts to illustrate Campbell’s anthem. It also includes animations of the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial and an iconic statue of William J. Mayo, M.D. and Charles H. Mayo, M.D. It’s available on Mayo Clinic’s YouTube channel. MEDIA CONTACT: Lee Aase, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AlSU-f-qm4  

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Increasingly high prices for cancer drugs are affecting patient care in the U.S. and the American health care system overall, say the authors of a special article published online in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings. “Americans with cancer pay 50 percent to 100 percent more for the same patented drug than patients in other countries,” says S. Vincent Rajkumar, M.D., of Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, who is one of the authors. “As oncologists we have a moral obligation to advocate for affordable cancer drugs for our patients.” Dr. Rajkumar and his colleague, Hagop Kantarjian, M.D., of MD Anderson Cancer Center, say the average price of cancer drugs for about a year of therapy increased from $5,000 to $10,000 before 2000 to more than $100,000 by 2012. Over nearly the same period the average household income in the U.S. decreased by about 8 percent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0Ah9Ef1ZM4

Colon cancer remains the second-leading cause of cancer death among both men and women in the U.S. On this week's program, we hear about #strongarmselfie, ...

      Molecular Breast Imaging (right) detected 3.6 times as many invasive cancers as digital mammography ...