Research - February 2015 Archives

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.

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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

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

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            

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Precision medicine is getting a jump-start from a new national initiative announced in President Obama's State of the Union message. One Georgia family has already experienced its benefits: genomic testing called whole exome sequencing helped Mayo Clinic neurologist Zbigniew Wszolek, M.D., solve a medical mystery that had left a boy with painful, jerking spasms that at times prevented him from walking or talking. Dr. Wszolek describes the case in a newly published article in the medical journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings. As a toddler, Dustin Bennett could not keep his balance, and as he grew older, the rigid, jerking spasms mysteriously appeared and disappeared. Over time, he also developed learning disabilities. http://youtu.be/1DsF-th25eE   Dustin’s adoptive mother, Linda Bennett, took him to several doctors to find the cause of his movement problems, but years of tests, medications and hospital stays came up empty for the Pearson, Georgia, family. “I wasn’t willing to give up, because I felt there had to be an answer somewhere,” Linda says. Journalists: Broadcast quality video is available in the downloads. MEDIA CONTACT: Kevin Punsky, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0746. Email: punsky.kevin@mayo.edu