Florida - May 2015 Archives

CHICAGO — Because of the significant benefit found in combining the targeted drug ibrutinib with standard chemotherapy for relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), an interim analysis has closed the international HELIOS phase III clinical trial. Led by Mayo Clinic, researchers found that ibrutinib and chemotherapy (bendamustine and rituximab, known as BR) reduced the risk of death or cancer progression by almost 80 percent in patients with previously treated CLL or SLL, compared to use of BR alone. MEDIA CONTACTS: Joe Dangor (on-site at ASCO), Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 651-261-9089 (cell), dangor.yusuf@mayo.edu. Paul Scotti, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0199 (office), scotti.paul@mayo.edu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTNKotg-hqI

Non-Ownership Relationship Expands Knowledge and Reach  TAMPA, Fla.  — Mayo Clinic and Shriners Hospitals for Children today announced Shriners Hospitals for Children as a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, a national network of organizations committed to better serving patients and their families through physician collaboration. The network will allow Shriners Hospitals for Children, a national health care system, to offer providers and patients convenient access to additional expertise from Mayo Clinic. The closer relationship will enhance the delivery of local care and promote peace of mind as providers and patients make health care decisions. “With Mayo Clinic’s similar mission of providing the best care to every patient through integrated clinical practice, education and research, a relationship will give Shriners Hospitals the opportunity to further transform children’s lives,” said Dale W. Stauss, Chairman of the Board of Directors for Shriners Hospitals for Children.  MEDIA CONTACTS: Kevin Punsky, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0746, punsky.kevin@mayo.edu Fabiana Lowe, Shriners Hospitals for Children, 813-281-7164, filowe@shrinenet.org

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Patients with liver cancer can be cured with a liver transplant. But because of the shortage of donated organs, these patients often die waiting for a liver. That’s because most transplant centers predominantly use livers from donors who die from brain death. But in the largest study of its kind, transplant physicians at Mayo Clinic in Florida have found that liver cancer patients have the same beneficial outcomes using organs donated by patients who died of cardiac death. The study was recently published online in the American Journal of Transplantation. MEDIA CONTACT: Paul Scotti, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0199, scotti.paul@mayo.edu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkxVxcwk89g

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have developed a mouse model that exhibits the neuropathological and behavioral features associated with the most common genetic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), which are caused by a mutation in the C9ORF72 gene. They say their findings, reported today in Science, will speed further research into the molecular mechanism behind these disorders and that the animal model will offer a way to test potential therapeutic agents to halt the death of neurons in the brain and spinal cord. MEDIA CONTACT: Kevin Punsky, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0746, punsky.kevin@mayo.edu Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Petrucelli are available in the downloads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICxKfCy_m2c