News Releases - October 2015 Archives

Alaska Native people have twice the rates of colorectal cancer as rest of U.S. ROCHESTER, Minn. — Cologuard stool DNA testing for colorectal cancer was found to be an accurate noninvasive screening option for Alaska Native people, a population with one of world’s highest rates of colorectal cancer, concluded researchers from the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Mayo Clinic. The remote residence of many Alaska Native people in sparsely distributed communities across vast roadless regions creates a barrier to screening with conventional tools, such as a colonoscopy. Stool DNA testing, which was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), may offer a workable and effective screening method for this population. The research was published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings and funded by a competitive grant from the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation. The stool DNA test is a noninvasive screening tool that identifies characteristic chemical changes in stool that signal the presence of cancer or precancerous polyps. The test, which requires no bowel preparation and no diet or medication restrictions, can be done from home via a mailed sampling kit. “Stool DNA detects colorectal cancer and highest risk precancerous polyps with high accuracy, and its application within a screening program could translate into more effective prevention and control of the leading cancer among Alaska Native people,” says David Ahlquist, M.D., a study author and co-inventor of the stool DNA test. MEDIA CONTACT: Brian Kilen, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, Email: newsbureau@mayo.edu

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Colorectal cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer death for men and women combined in the U.S. The goal of screening is to reduce the number of people who die from this common cancer. According to Mayo Clinic cancer experts there are gaps in current screening approaches in terms of detection accuracy, patient willingness to use them, and accessibility. Recently, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) announced draft recommendations on colorectal cancer screening. The task force recommended screening for colorectal cancer using the conventional tools, including, fecal occult blood testing, sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy in adults, beginning at age 50 years and continuing until age 75. The task force concluded that the evidence is less mature to support use of the stool DNA test as a screening modality for colorectal cancer and designated this new test as an alternative rather than front-line screening approach.  The innovative and noninvasive stool DNA test (Cologuard) was co-developed by Mayo Clinic and Exact Sciences scientists to improve screening accuracy, encourage participation with its user-friendly features, and remove access barriers. The stool DNA test has met the stringent reviews and been approved by both the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Mayo Clinic strongly urges the USPSTF to unambiguously support the stool DNA as a fully legitimate colorectal cancer screening option. “There is compelling scientific evidence that this innovative approach can increase screening accuracy and potentially save lives,” says John Noseworthy, M.D., President and CEO, Mayo Clinic.  "We need to remove cost, cultural, location and other barriers to improve access to effective screening.” MEDIA CONTACT: Brian Kilen, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu

Recommendations balance research participant privacy with family need for health information ROCHESTER, MINN. – A blue-ribbon project group funded by the National Institutes of Health has published the first consensus guidelines on how researchers should share genomic findings in research on adults and children with other family members. The recommendations, published in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, offer direction on sharing information before and after the death of an individual research participant. “These recommendations will have an impact on future human subject protection policies when genetic research is performed,” says Gloria Petersen, Ph.D. of Mayo Clinic, who co-authored the guidelines with Susan Wolf, J.D., of the University of Minnesota, and Barbara Koenig, Ph.D. of the University of California, San Francisco. The authors say the explosive growth of genomic research has led to tough questions about what to do with the resulting information. Should researchers share an individual’s private results with family members who may share that genetic risk? The question often pits individual privacy against family need. MEDIA CONTACT: Joe Dangor, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu 

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month Pancreatic cancer has long proved the least survivable of the most common forms of cancer, in part because it tends to spread before symptoms appear. Surgery has offered the longest remissions, but for many people with advanced cancer, an operation wasn’t an option. Now, thanks to improvements in chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, even this most recalcitrant of cancers is starting to budge, says Mark Truty, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastrointestinal surgeon. Dr. Truty and his colleagues are now performing complex tumor removal operations on pancreatic cancer patients who in the past would have been considered inoperable — and they are seeing survival times rise significantly. “We know that patients who go through our preoperative protocol and to the operating room do significantly better than average, compared to historical outcomes. We’re looking at three- to four-fold improvement in overall survival,” Dr. Truty says. “In the past few years, we have done operations that were never performed before. With improved chemotherapy and radiation therapy, we’re now beginning to push the envelope surgically.” Journalists: Video and audio cuts of Dr. Truty are available in the downloads. For interviews with Dr. Truty, please contact Sharon Theimer in Mayo Clinic Public Affairs at 507-284-5005 or newsbureau@mayo.edu. Dr. Truty explains who is a candidate for pancreatic cancer surgery, the types of operations, recovery times and outcomes:

PHOENIX — Stepping down asthma medicines can be done safely and at less cost for patients says a new Mayo Clinic study published this week in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. It is common for patients and doctors to test out if taki ng less daily asthma medicine is safe — primarily because of the high cost of asthma medicine. However, deciding when to step down daily asthma medicines can be challenging, and it would be helpful to understand the risks involved. The study, led by Matthew Rank, M.D., an allergy and immunology specialist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, analyzed asthma outcomes after patients stepped down their daily asthma medicines. The team studied more than 4,000 patients (adults and children) who were taking daily asthma medicines and focused their analysis on two groups: patients who had stable asthma for at least one year who stayed on their same daily asthma medicine and patients who had stable asthma for at least one year who stepped down their daily asthma medicine. Stepping down asthma medicines in patients who have had stable asthma for at least one year appears to be as safe as continuing the same level of medicines, the study found. Only 11 percent of patients had problems with their asthma in the 4-5 months after stepping down their asthma medicines. MEDIA CONTACT: Jim McVeigh, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA), the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), Mayo Clinic, and the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) have joined faculty and researchers from around the world to host the Sex and Gender Based Medical Education Summit at Mayo Clinic on October 18-19, 2015. The full program agenda can be found here: Final Summit Agenda.  "As we enter the world of precision medicine, medical research about basic sex differences between men and women must be incorporated into curriculum for physicians and all health care providers for it to be translated into better outcomes for patients," says Virginia Miller, Ph.D., director of Women’s Health Research Center at Mayo Clinic.  This summit is the first of its kind, a national collaboration dedicated to engaging educational thought leaders in creating a roadmap to integrate sex- and gender-based evidence into medical and interprofessional education. The meeting will feature world-renowned experts in the field of sex- and gender-based medicine as well as curriculum leaders in academic medicine. Over 100 representatives from medical schools in the United States and Canada will be in attendance. MEDIA CONTACT: Ethan Grove, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye7Vt4v98-0 WHAT: “Feel the Beat” brings together families, researchers and clinicians to learn more about, and raise awareness of, hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a rare and complex form of congenital heart disease in which the left side of a child's heart is severely underdeveloped. The event, built around science, advocacy, families and patients, invites those in the HLHS community to share experiences while discovering the unique regenerative therapies being pioneered for congenital heart disease. Children and families from across the U.S. will participate in team-building challenges and interactive sessions led by physicians and researchers. WHERE: Mayo Clinic, Gonda Building, Rochester, Minnesota WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 17, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. To view the itinerary, visit the HLHS Cause to Cure blog. WHO: Interviews are available with Timothy Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., director, Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and Christopher Moir, M.D., a Mayo Clinic pediatric surgeon who led the team to successfully separate 5-month-old conjoined twins in 2006. This year’s guests include Ethan Bortnick, a 14-year-old piano prodigy who has been playing for audiences worldwide and Joslynn Jarrett-Skelton, author of the book series “Charlie the Courageous.” At approximately 11:30 a.m., the children will be joined by the “superhero window washers,” who will make a surprise entrance to greet the children from the windows outside of the Gonda atrium and pose for pictures. MEDIA CONTACT: RSVP to Jennifer Schutz, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, at 507-284-5005 or newsbureau@mayo.edu

SUNNYVALE, Calif., and ROCHESTER, Minn. — Viewics, Inc., a provider of health care analytics solutions, and Mayo Clinic recently signed an agreement that will use Viewics analytics platform to drive key initiatives for safety, service, costs, and quality. As part of the agreement, Viewics will deploy its data platform Viewics Health Insighter across various divisions within Mayo’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, including the health care organization’s reference laboratory Mayo Medical Laboratories. The Viewics analytics platform will aggregate data from diverse sources and provide real-time information and insights across clinical, operational, and financial areas of the organization to support strategic decisions and standardize day-to-day laboratory functions. The Viewics Health Insighter will help Mayo Medical Laboratories and its clients understand the impact that analytics can make on a laboratory’s offerings and value proposition. Media Contacts: Dan Conley Beacon Communications 312-593-8461 dconley@beaconpr.com Gina Chiri-Osmond Mayo Clinic Public Affairs 507-284-5005 newsbureau@mayo.edu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8tLB6YQ1Fo JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus and St. Vincent’s HealthCare, a ministry of Ascension Health, are collaborating to bring Mayo Clinic’s nationally ranked cancer services to patients in a newly built medical suite on the campus of St. Vincent’s Riverside. The goal is to offer Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center’s programs and services to more patients directly in the community. Construction of the 11,500-square-foot medical suite is expected to be completed in summer of 2016. Financial details of the agreement will not be disclosed. “We are thrilled to collaborate with a local health system that is known worldwide for delivering superior cancer care,” says Michael Schatzlein, M.D., President and CEO of St. Vincent’s HealthCare. “Every year, thousands of patients travel across the globe to be treated by Mayo Clinic physicians, and, now, St. Vincent’s will offer our patients the same high-quality care right here on our Riverside campus.” MEDIA CONTACTS: Kevin Punsky, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, email: newsbureau@mayo.edu Kyle Sieg, St. Vincent’s HealthCare, 904-308-7992, kyle.sieg@jaxhealth.com

Rochester, Minn. — Mayo Clinic will host the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) symposium Oct. 9-10, 2015. The symposium aims to further the collaborative approach to initiate and accelerate discovery in brain science. Government, industry and academic leaders and researchers from across the globe will convene in Rochester to further their work in neuroscience research and therapies. Walter Koroshetz, M.D., the director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, will be the keynote speaker. “By bringing together stakeholders from across the range of groups involved in the BRAIN Initiative, we hope to highlight the dual promises of the BRAIN Initiative: to drive public/private collaboration toward developing revolutionary tools to aid the basic understanding of the brain and to quickly translate these discoveries into therapies,” says Kendall Lee, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic neurosurgeon, who leads the Mayo Clinic Neural Engineering Laboratory, a team of more than 30 neurosurgeons, neurobiologists, engineers, imaging scientists and support staff. This team and the collaborators from the University of Texas in El Paso and Hanyang University in Korea won the BRAIN Initiative award to develop deep brain stimulation technology to detect the release of neurotransmitters in the living brain and modulate brain activity. MEDIA CONTACT: Duska Anastasijevic, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic Express Care will relocate its north Rochester location on Tuesday, Oct. 20. The walk-in clinic, where Mayo providers diagnose and ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Researchers at Mayo Clinic were awarded a $6.8 million, five-year federal grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop intelligent devices to track and treat abnormal brain activity in people with epilepsy. The grant, part of a presidential initiative aimed at revolutionizing the understanding of the human brain, is called Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies or the BRAIN Initiative. Epilepsy affects 60 million people worldwide and 3 million in the U.S. Approximately one-third of people with epilepsy will continue having seizures, despite taking daily medications. Seizures, the hallmark of epilepsy, are sudden events that strike patients without warning. The goal of the research is to develop an implantable device that can record brain activity continuously to forecast upcoming seizures and stimulate multiple brain regions in real time to prevent seizures before they ever occur. Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Worrell are available in the downloads. MEDIA CONTACT: Duska Anastasijevic, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, email: newsbureau@mayo.edu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eGfr9JXLxY