For years, cancer researchers have been trying to halt a type of molecule that's involved in several cancers. The molecules — enzymes known as trypsins — split proteins that help tumors grow and spread.

Mayo Clinic cancer biologist Evette Radisky, Ph.D., previously found that one trypsin, called mesotrypsin, plays a role in breast, prostate, pancreatic and lung cancer. Like other enzymes, the molecule has an active site that kicks off reactions with other molecules. Researchers have tried to block the active site but haven’t found a molecule with a specific enough lock-and-key fit to jam the active region.

Recently, however, Dr. Radisky's lab at Mayo Clinic in Florida discovered a new way to block mesotrypsin. They found a "hidden pocket" in the molecule.

"The hidden pocket is separate from the active site, but we found that blocking it has a similar effect of locking the enzyme in an inactive state," says Dr. Radisky, principal investigator of the study that appeared in Science Advances. The team now is taking steps to discover drugs that fit the hidden pocket.

A mystery in the data

"It was a serendipitous finding," says the study’s lead author, Mathew Coban, of the pocket's discovery. As a research technologist in the Radisky lab and a master's degree student at Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Coban had aimed to understand the structure of mesotrypsin through X-ray crystallography.

The complex technique, which records scattered X-rays as shadows, can describe the overall folds of amino acids in the enzyme and suggest complementary molecules that fit like a puzzle. While reviewing the X-ray crystallography results, Coban noticed a segment of the enzyme that looked out of place. The research team thought it might be an error in the data and set the results aside.

But Coban continued to wonder about the strange area. He had the idea to begin looking for alternate nooks in the mesotrypsin enzyme that could potentially contribute to a stable, non-active enzyme.

What Coban found was a site that was hidden. The team dubbed it a "cryptic pocket." The pocket, adjacent to the active site, opened at moments when mesotrypsin stabilized itself. The next step was clear. "If the pocket is there some of the time, maybe a drug would be able to bind at that site and trap the enzyme in its inactive state," he says.

Finding a drug that binds

The team worked with a colleague, Thomas Caulfield, Ph.D., a former Mayo researcher and drug discovery expert, to conduct a computational screen of potential drug compounds that might fit in the cryptic pocket. They found a single molecule that could bind in the cryptic pocket and inhibit the activity of mesotrypsin.

Importantly, the researchers note, the molecule blocks mesotrypsin selectively, without affecting other trypsins. This could mean less toxicity or fewer side effects for a patient. The finding also means that other cryptic pockets may exist in other trypsin molecules related to cancer, presenting new potential drug targets.  

The team is continuing to look for drug molecules that fit mesotrypsin even better. "Based on the structural information of mesotrypsin that we have now, we've been able to do more computational prediction to identify additional, more potent compounds that we’re now testing in the laboratory," says Dr. Radisky.

"This has been an important step in the understanding of this key enzyme. Our next steps will be to start testing how well our candidate drug molecules fit the cryptic pocket and block cancer invasion and metastasis in models of disease," she says.

The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic Medical Scientist Training Program and Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility.  The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

The post Mayo Clinic researchers discover ‘hidden pocket’ in cancer-promoting enzyme appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Researchers are leading the nation in using powerful and precise radioactive drugs to treat people with complex cancers.  

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic has treated the first person in the U.S. using a novel radioactive medicine for advanced breast cancer as part of an international multisite clinical trial.

The medicine used in this clinical trial contains actinium-225, a highly potent alpha-emitting radiopharmaceutical therapy that was first developed for a subtype of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, which are rare and can form in the pancreas and the gastrointestinal tract. The alpha-emitting radiopharmaceutical therapy is intended to work by passing through the blood to stick to cancer cells, delivering powerful and precise radiation without harming healthy cells.

The Mayo Clinic researchers are the first to apply this therapy in America to a patient with metastatic breast cancer. The phase 1b/2 open-label trial is being conducted at all three academic Mayo Clinic sites in Rochester, Minnesota; Phoenix; Jacksonville, Florida; and approximately 20 other sites across the U.S. The first person treated was at Mayo Clinic in Florida.

The principal investigator at Mayo Clinic is Geoffrey Johnson, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of radiology and a leader in radiopharmaceutical therapies. He says these are innovative cancer treatments that use radioactive medicines designed to target and kill cancer cells with high precision.

Mayo Clinic has nearly 20 active radiopharmaceutical therapy clinical trials, with 10 more preparing to launch, targeting many different types of cancer. Mayo Clinic in Rochester treats more patients with modern radiopharmaceutical therapies, such as lutetium dotatate for neuroendocrine cancers and lutetium PSMA for prostate cancers, than any other center in the world.

Lutetium dotatate and lutetium PSMA are beta-emitting radiopharmaceuticals. They use beta particles, which are tiny subatomic particles, to radiate at a low level. In contrast, alpha-emitting radiopharmaceuticals use alpha particles that are 8,000 times more massive than beta particles, and travel only three cell diameters after they are emitted from the therapy.

"This means alpha emitters can deliver a much more powerful impact over a shorter distance. If you consider killing a cancer cell is like knocking down a brick wall, then the difference is like throwing a 10-pound dumbbell (beta) at the wall versus a fully loaded Mack truck (alpha)," says Dr. Johnson. "The alpha emitter's potential lies in its power and in its ability to precisely kill even a single cancer cell without injuring surrounding healthy tissue, making it a next-generation therapy."

In preclinical studies, data indicates actinium-225 DOTATATE that targets the somatostatin receptor subtype 2expression demonstrated feasibility and potential efficacy for treatment of ER+ metastatic breast cancer in the laboratory. The drug was developed by RayzeBio Inc., a Bristol Myers Squibb Company, the sponsor of the active phase 1b/2 clinical trial.

Study Title: Phase 1b/2 Open-label Trial of 225Ac-DOTATATE (RYZ101) in Subjects with Estrogen Receptor-positive (ER+), Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2)-negative, Locally Advanced and Unresectable or Metastatic Breast Cancer Expressing Somatostatin Receptors (SSTRs) and Progressed After Antibody-drug Conjugates And/or Chemotherapy (TRACY-1)

• Descriptor: Phase 1b/2 open-label trial of 225Ac-DOTATATE (RYZ101) alone and with pembrolizumab in subjects with ER+, HER2-negative unresectable or metastatic breast cancer expressing SSTRs.
• Sponsor: RayzeBio Inc.
• Link: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06590857

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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and to providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

Media contact:

• Brittany Cordeiro, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Mayo Clinic treats first person in the US with a novel radiopharmaceutical therapy for breast cancer appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

(Video animation shows blood stem cells dividing and multiplying. Getty Images).

Deep inside the body, a slow-growing cluster of mutated blood cells can form. This cluster, found in 1 in 5 older adults, can raise the risk of leukemia and heart disease, often without warning. 

To better understand this hidden risk, Mayo Clinic researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to help investigators uncover how it contributes to disease risk and progression.

In a study published in Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics, the tool showed promising results in identifying early signs of this condition, known as clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential, or CHIP.

When blood cells mutate

CHIP starts in the bone marrow, where blood stem cells make the cells that keep organs working, oxygen flowing and the immune system strong. But if one of those cells acquires a mutation in a gene linked to blood cancer, it can multiply abnormally, forming a cluster of mutated cells that gradually expands. 

This can cause CHIP, a condition with no symptoms that researchers link to higher rates of death, especially from heart disease. Because its effects vary, CHIP is hard to track and often goes undetected for years. 

CHIP makes leukemia more than 10 times more likely and raises the risk of heart disease up to four times, even in healthy adults. Finding it earlier could help guide proactive monitoring or preventive care.

A new tool for early detection 

The new tool, called UNISOM — short for UNIfied SOmatic calling and Machine learning — was developed by Shulan Tian, Ph.D., under the leadership of Eric Klee, Ph.D., co-senior author of the study and the Everett J. and Jane M. Hauck Midwest Associate Director of Research and Innovation.  

UNISOM helps clinicians identify CHIP-related mutations in standard genetic datasets, opening new avenues for research and discovery. In the past, that level of detection required more complex and advanced sequencing methods. 

"Detecting disease at its earliest molecular roots is one of the most meaningful advances we can make in medicine," says Dr. Klee. "UNISOM is just one of many examples of how we're translating genomic science into innovative tools that support timely and informed care." 

UNISOM helped researchers detect nearly 80% of CHIP mutations using whole-exome sequencing, which analyzes the protein-coding regions of DNA.  

The team also tested UNISOM on whole-genome sequencing data from the Mayo Clinic Biobank, which captures nearly all of a person's genetic code. In that data, it detected early signs of CHIP, including mutations present in fewer than 5% of blood cells. Standard techniques often miss these small but important changes.

"We're engineering a path from genomic discovery to clinical decision-making," says Dr. Tian, the co-senior author and a bioinformatician at Mayo Clinic. "It's rewarding to help bring these discoveries closer to clinical care, where they can inform decisions and support more precise treatment." 

Next, the team plans to apply UNISOM to larger and more diverse datasets to support research and expand its use in clinical practice. 

Review the study for a complete list of authors, disclosures and funding.   

The post Mayo Clinic AI tool finds early signs of blood mutations linked to cancer and heart disease appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered a key reason some cancer patients relapse after receiving chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR-T cell therapy. Over time, the engineered immune cells age and lose their ability to fight cancer.  

Published in Molecular Cancer, the study identifies this aging process, known as senescence, as a previously unrecognized mechanism of CAR-T failure.   

The researchers also showed that senescence is influenced by how CAR-T cells are engineered. Certain intracellular features — such as how the cell recognizes cancer and how strongly it activates — can overwork the cells. The researchers found that if the activation signal is too intense or prolonged, it can push CAR-T cells into premature aging.  

The discovery may guide the development of next-generation CAR-T therapies that last longer and are more effective across a broader range of cancers.  

"This is one of the most clinically relevant discoveries we've made because it doesn't just explain the cause of relapse, it gives us a biological target to possibly prevent it," says Saad Kenderian, M.B., Ch.B., a principal investigator and hematologist at Mayo Clinic.  

CAR-T therapy reprograms a patient's own immune cells to recognize and destroy cancer. It has led to long-term remission for patients, including some with aggressive or treatment-resistant diseases. But many patients eventually relapse, and the causes have remained poorly understood. 

Modeling CAR-T cell stress over time 

To investigate why CAR-T therapy can fail, the Mayo team developed a novel lab model that simulates long-term biological stress, offering a clearer view of how the engineered cells behave after infusion. Over time, some CAR-T cells lost their ability to multiply and attack cancer. Specifically, they showed hallmark signs of senescence, including distinct genetic changes.  

The researchers found that senescence occurred more often in CAR-T cells built with a signaling feature, known as 4-1BB, which affects how the cells respond to cancer. In comparison, cells designed with an alternative domain, called CD28, were less affected by aging. These cells activate more quickly and persist for a shorter time, reducing the cumulative stress that drives senescence.

The researchers confirmed the results in multiple laboratory models and validated them in patient samples.

Engineering CAR-T cells for longevity 

That discovery was driven in part by the work of Ismail Can, Ph.D., who helped lead the molecular analysis behind the finding. 

"Efforts to make CAR-T cell therapy more durable will likely fail without fully understanding the reasons behind CAR-T cell failure. This study represents a significant step toward understanding why CAR-T cells fail," says Dr. Can, first author of the study and a senior research fellow at Mayo Clinic’s T Cell Engineering Laboratory. "By identifying the early molecular triggers of senescence, we can begin to refine CAR-T design to potentially improve long-term function and reduce relapse." 

The findings highlight a new direction for CAR-T research, with potential implications not only for blood cancers but also for expanding cell therapy into solid tumors.  

The study builds on Dr. Kenderian's broader efforts to identify resistance mechanisms and design more durable and personalized immunotherapies.   

This work was supported in part by Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Eagles 5th District Cancer Telethon Funds for Cancer Research, the State of Minnesota, and benefactors Georgia and Michael Michelson. For a complete list of authors, disclosures and funding information, review the study.    

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About Mayo Clinic 
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news. 

Media contact:  

• Sharon Theimer, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu 

The post Mayo Clinic researchers link CAR-T cell aging to cancer relapse  appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Little is known about what causes ovarian cancer, and there is no way to detect it early yet. About 75% of the time when someone is diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it has already progressed to stage 3 or stage 4, which means it has spread to other parts of the body. Mayo Clinic physicians, researchers and patients had been working together to learn more about this devastating disease when a 22-year-old patient, who has two rare genetic conditions that dramatically elevate lifetime cancer risk, came to Mayo Clinic.

The patient carries a hereditary BRCA2 mutation, which is one of the genes that causes hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome, and a hereditary TP53 mutation, which causes Li-Fraumeni syndrome.

At Mayo Clinic, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Imaging also revealed she had an ovarian cyst. Although the cyst was benign, she chose to have a mastectomy and hysterectomy with removal of her ovaries and fallopian tubes, a procedure called a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, because of her elevated cancer risk. Upon further examination, her Mayo Clinic physician and research team detected early, hidden changes in the cells lining her fallopian tubes, revealing signals that may point to the first signs of ovarian cancer before symptoms or visible lesions appear.

"Our team glimpsed a rare and revealing phenomenon in epithelial biology, uncovered through the cells of a young patient living with profoundly high-risk genetic conditions. Using cutting-edge, single-cell technologies, we traced how her epithelial cells were developmentally altered in ways that signaled a high risk for lethal ovarian cancer. These insights could pave the way for future strategies to detect the disease in its earliest, precancerous stages when prevention is still possible," says Nagarajan Kannan, Ph.D., director of the Stem Cell and Cancer Biology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic and co-lead author of this study published in JCO Precision Oncology.

Jamie Bakkum-Gamez, M.D., the patient's gynecologic oncology surgeon at Mayo Clinic, says she is determined to find a way to detect ovarian cancer earlier to help save more patients' lives.

"We know that the most aggressive and common form of ovarian cancer often actually starts in the fallopian tube. However, why the fallopian tube and how it starts are not yet known. Knowing how ovarian cancer begins and forms could not only lead to the development of earlier screening tools, but also more personalized risk-reduction strategies and improved guidance around the timing of preventive surgeries and fertility planning," says Dr. Bakkum-Gamez, who is a co-lead author of this study.

Watch: Dr. Jamie Bakkum-Gamez on revealing hidden signs of ovarian cancer risk

Journalists: Broadcast-quality sound bites are available in the downloads. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Name super/CG: Jamie Bakkum-Gamez, M.D./ Gynecologic Oncology/Mayo Clinic

Together, Dr. Kannan and Dr. Bakkum-Gamez have established a living fallopian tube biobank at Mayo Clinic. The cells and tissues donated by patients help scientists study how ovarian cancer begins — cell by cell — directly in human tissue. From the patient specimens, organoids, or small versions of the fallopian tubes, can be grown. The biobank includes organoids from patients with average-to-high ovarian cancer risk and specializes in inherited cancer mutations like the ones associated with HBOC syndrome and Li-Fraumeni syndrome.

"The precise cellular origin of ovarian cancer remains one of the greatest unanswered questions in cancer prevention — limiting our ability to intervene early and save lives. This work lays the foundation for a new era of early detection and precision prevention for ovarian cancer, especially for patients with inherited risk such as BRCA mutations."

Nagarajan Kannan, Ph.D.

Ovarian cancer precursor

A healthy fallopian tube consists of two main types of epithelial cells: multiciliated cells that have hundreds of cilia, or hairlike appendages, that help move the fertilized egg through the fallopian tube and secretory cells that secrete fluids to nourish and protect the developing embryo. But in the fallopian tube cells collected from the patient with HBOC syndrome and Li-Fraumeni syndrome, the scientists saw something they had never seen before. Instead of the two types of epithelial cells, the secretory cells vastly outnumbered the multiciliated cells across the fallopian tube. They also found that secretory cells were driving chronic inflammation — an established contributor to cancer development.

"Through single-cell RNA sequencing, we could see the disruptions in the development of cells lining the fallopian tube lumen — findings that could help reshape how we understand and ultimately prevent ovarian cancer," says Megan Ritting, co-lead author and Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences doctoral candidate. Ritting spearheaded the use of cutting-edge genomic technology in this study.

Furthermore, oral contraceptives containing progestins, or synthetic analogs of the hormone progesterone that is produced by the ovaries, can be used to reduce ovarian cancer risk by up to 50%. However, Ritting and the research team were surprised to see that this patient's fallopian tube cells did not have any progesterone receptor proteins, which suggests oral contraceptives may not have been effective in reducing the patient's risk for ovarian cancer.

"With the generous partnership of patients who allow their cells to be studied using advanced technologies, including organoid models, we are making critical progress in understanding how these cancers develop. This work represents an important step toward identifying opportunities to develop preventive strategies, treatments and approaches that could reduce the risk of fallopian tube and ovarian cancers," says Dr. Bakkum-Gamez.

The research is part of a larger effort at Mayo Clinic called the Precure initiative, focused on developing tools that empower clinicians to predict and intercept biological processes before they evolve into disease or progress into complex, hard-to-treat conditions. In the next steps of this research, using the living fallopian tube biobank, the scientists are investigating how and where earliest origins of ovarian cancer take root.

Review the study for a complete list of authors, disclosures and funding. 

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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

Media contact:

• Kelley Luckstein, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Mayo Clinic researchers capture first signs of ovarian cancer risk appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Some of the most harmful genetic changes in cancer are also the hardest to see. These structural alterations, deep within a tumor's DNA, can fuel aggressive growth and evade standard testing, especially when tissue samples are small or degraded. 

To address this challenge, Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new computational tool called BACDAC that shines a light on these elusive genomic patterns. The tool helps researchers identify signs of genomic instability using DNA sequencing that reads the entire genome, even in low-purity or low-coverage samples. 

The tool could help clinicians better predict how a tumor will behave and guide more personalized treatment choices. 

Detecting chromosome changes

At the core of BACDAC's approach is the concept of ploidy, which refers to the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell. While normal human cells have two sets (46 chromosomes total), cancer cells often show large-scale gains or losses, disrupting this balance and enabling unchecked growth. 

"This tool lets us see a layer of the genome that's been invisible until now. We've spent decades studying the biology of genomic instability. This is the first time we've been able to translate that knowledge into a tool that works at scale." 

George Vasmatzis, Ph.d.

In a study published in Genome Biology, the research team used BACDAC to analyze more than 650 tumors across 12 cancer types. The tool helped researchers detect signs of whole-genome doubling, where a tumor duplicates all of its DNA. This type of abnormal ploidy is often linked to aggressive behavior and treatment resistance. 

"This tool lets us see a layer of the genome that's been invisible until now," says George Vasmatzis, Ph.D., a lead author of the study and co-director of Mayo Clinic's Biomarker Discovery Program. "We've spent decades studying the biology of genomic instability. This is the first time we've been able to translate that knowledge into a tool that works at scale." 

BACDAC also provides a visual summary of a tumor's genomic landscape. A custom output called the Constellation Plot offers an intuitive view of whether the tumor's chromosomes are stable or disrupted. This may help researchers and pathologists interpret results more easily. 

Next, the Mayo Clinic team plans to further validate BACDAC and develop it into a clinically deployable diagnostic tool. It may help inform treatment decisions by providing a clearer view of a tumor’s structural changes. 

The study was supported in part by the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine and the Mayo Clinic Center for Digital Health. For a complete list of authors, disclosures and funding, review the study. 

More recent research from Dr. Vasmatzis

Mayo Clinic researchers reveal personalized approach to brain cancer monitoring

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a personalized blood test that detects tumor DNA to help track the progression of high-grade gliomas more quickly and less invasively. Read more.

The post New Mayo Clinic tool exposes hidden cancer DNA changes that may drive treatment resistance appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Late-breaking abstract featured at ASCO 2025

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Colon cancer is the third most prevalent form of cancer in the U.S., and while screening has helped detect and prevent colon cancer from spreading, major advancements in treating colon cancer have lagged.

Now, new research led by Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center found that adding immunotherapy to chemotherapy after surgery for patients with stage 3 (node-positive) colon cancer — and with a specific genetic makeup called deficient DNA mismatch repair (dMMR) — was associated with a 50% reduction in cancer recurrence and death compared to chemotherapy alone. Approximately 15% of people diagnosed with colon cancer exhibit dMMR and, to date, these tumors appear less sensitive to chemotherapy. The results of the multi-center study were presented during a plenary session at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago.

"The findings from our study represent a major advance in the adjuvant treatment of dMMR stage 3 colon cancer and will now change the treatment for this type of cancer," says oncologist Frank Sinicrope, M.D., who led the study. "It's extremely rewarding to be able to offer our patients a new treatment regimen that can reduce the risk of recurrence and improve their chances of survival."

Until now, the standard treatment after surgery for any stage 3 colon cancer has been chemotherapy. However, the researchers note that approximately 30% of patients experience cancer recurrence despite this treatment. 

Watch: Dr. Frank Sinicrope discusses Mayo Clinic immunotherapy study

Journalists: Broadcast-quality sound bites with Dr. Frank Sinicrope are in the downloads at the end of the post. Please "Courtesy: Mayo Clinic News Network."

The clinical trial enrolled 712 patients with dMMR stage 3 colon cancer that had been surgically removed and who had cancer cells in their lymph nodes. The immunotherapy given in this study was an immune checkpoint inhibitor, known as atezolizumab, which activates one's immune system to attack and kill cancer cells, which are responsible for cancer recurrence and spread. The patients — who lived in the U.S. and Germany — received chemotherapy for six months along with immunotherapy and then continued with immunotherapy alone for another six months.

Dr. Sinicrope and others previously studied patients with colon cancer whose cells are unable to repair errors during DNA replication that create a nucleotide mismatch, a condition called dMMR. They noted that these patients' tumors showed a striking increase in inflammatory cells within the tumor, including those that express the target of immune checkpoint inhibitors. This sparked the idea of using immune checkpoint inhibitors to make the immune cells more effective in attacking and killing the cancer cells.   

Based on the data from this study, Dr. Sinicrope recommends this combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy treatment to be the new standard treatment for stage 3 deficient mismatch repair colon cancer. The research team plans to approach the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a nonprofit organization consisting of 33 leading cancer centers, including Mayo Clinic, with this recommendation.  

The study included patients with Lynch syndrome, the most common form of hereditary colon cancer, as these patients can have tumors that show deficient mismatch repair (dMMR).

"We're changing the paradigm in colon cancer treatment. By using immunotherapy at earlier stages of disease, we are achieving meaningful benefits for our patients," says Dr. Sinicrope.

Review the abstract for a complete list of authors, disclosures and funding. 

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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

About Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center 
Designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center is defining the cancer center of the future, focused on delivering the world's most exceptional patient-centered cancer care for everyone. At Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, a culture of innovation and collaboration is driving research breakthroughs in cancer detection, prevention and treatment to change lives.

Media contact:

• Kelley Luckstein, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Immunotherapy boosts chemotherapy in combating stage 3 colon cancer appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers will present their latest oncology findings at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, scheduled to be held May 30–June 3 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago. The event, recognized as one of the largest gatherings in the field of cancer research, will feature 59 Mayo Clinic-authored abstracts highlighting advancements in cancer care.

Among the standout presentations are practice-changing studies focused on chemotherapy approaches, artificial intelligence (AI) applications in oncology, cancer care at home and new therapies for breast cancer and melanoma — all focused on improving treatment options for patients with cancer.

Highlights include:

Plenary Session: Randomized trial of standard chemotherapy alone or combined with atezolizumab as adjuvant therapy for patients with stage 3 deficient DNA mismatch repair (dMMR) colon cancer (Alliance A021502; ATOMIC)
Presentation time: Sunday, June 1, 1:05 to 1:17 p.m. CDT
Session title: Special Sessions
Presenter: Frank Sinicrope, M.D., medical oncologist and gastroenterologist

Clinical Science Symposium: Perception and concerns of the hematology and oncology (HemOnc) workforce about artificial intelligence (AI) in clinical practice (CliPr) and medical education (MedED)
Presentation time: Saturday, May 31, 2:03 to 2:15 p.m. CDT
Session title: The Future Is Now: Innovations in Medical Education
Presenter: Guilherme Sacchi de Camargo Correia, M.D., oncology fellow (senior author is Rami Manochakian, M.D., thoracic medical oncologist)

Oral Abstract Session: Tissue-free circulating tumor DNA assay and patient outcome in a phase 3 trial of FOLFOX-based adjuvant chemotherapy (Alliance N0147)
Presentation time: Friday, May 30, 3:57 to 4:09 p.m. CDT
Session title: Gastrointestinal Cancer — Colorectal and Anal
Presenter: Frank Sinicrope, M.D., medical oncologist and gastroenterologist

Oral Abstract Session: [212Pb]VMT-α-NET therapy in somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2) expressing neuroendocrine tumors (NETs): Dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) observation participants after one-year follow-up and preliminary report for expansion participants.
Presentation time: Friday, May 30, 4:09 to 4:21 p.m. CDT
Session title: Developmental Therapeutics — Molecularly Targeted Agents and Tumor Biology
Presenter: Thorvardur Halfdanarson, M.D., medical oncologist       

Oral Abstract Session: NeoACTIVATE arm C: Phase II trial of neoadjuvant atezolizumab and tiragolumab for high-risk operable stage 3 melanoma
Presentation time: Tuesday, June 3, 2025, 10:45 a.m. to 10:57 a.m. CDT
Session title: Melanoma/Skin Cancers
Presenter: Tina Hieken, M.D., breast and melanoma surgical oncologist

Poster Session: Cancer Care Beyond Walls (CCBW): A randomized pragmatic trial of home-based versus in-clinic cancer therapy administration
Session time: Sunday, June 1, 9 a.m. to noon CDT
Session title: Care Delivery and Quality Care
Presenter: Roxana Dronca, M.D., medical oncologist and the site deputy director of Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Florida

Poster Session: A pilot single-arm, pragmatic trial in progress of in-home versus in-clinic subcutaneous nivolumab administration through Cancer Care Beyond Walls (CCBW) program (connected access and remote expertise)
Session time: Sunday, June 1, 9 a.m. to noon CDT
Session Title: Care Delivery/Models of Care
Presenter: Dina Elantably, M.B., B.CH., oncology fellow (senior author is Roxana Dronca, M.D., medical oncologist and the site deputy director of Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Florida)

Poster Session: Initial results of MC200710 investigating therapeutic vaccine (PDS0101) alone or with pembrolizumab prior to surgery or radiation therapy for locally advanced HPV associated oropharyngeal carcinoma, a phase 2 window of opportunity trial
Session time: Monday, June 2, 9 a.m. to noon CDT
Session title: Head and Neck Cancer
Presenter: David Routman, M.D., radiation oncologist

Poster Session: ALISertib in combination with endocrine therapy in patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+), HER2-negative (HER2–) recurrent or metastatic breast cancer: The phase 2 ALISCA-Breast1 study
Session time: Monday, June 2, 9 a.m. to noon CDT
Session title: Breast Cancer — Metastatic
Presenter: Tufia Haddad, M.D., medical oncologist

Poster Session: Estrogen receptor expression in residual breast cancer following neoadjuvant chemotherapy
Session time: Monday, June 2, 9 a.m. to noon CDT
Session title: Breast Cancer — Local/Regional/Adjuvant
Presenter: Sarah Premji, M.D., oncology fellow (senior author is Matthew Goetz, M.D., breast medical oncologist, and the Erivan K. Haub Family Professor of Cancer Research Honoring Richard F. Emslander, M.D.)

For more information about 2025 ASCO visit: https://www.asco.org/annual-meeting.

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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

About Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center 
Designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center is defining the cancer center of the future, focused on delivering the world's most exceptional patient-centered cancer care for everyone. At Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, a culture of innovation and collaboration is driving research breakthroughs in cancer detection, prevention and treatment to change lives.

Media contact on-site at ASCO:

• Kelley Luckstein, Mayo Clinic Communications, 507-202-8655, luckstein.kelley@mayo.edu

The post Mayo Clinic experts present key cancer research findings at ASCO appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Millions of people are affected by chronic dry mouth, or xerostomia, an agonizing side effect of damaged salivary glands. While chemotherapy and radiation treatment for head and neck cancer are the most common causes of this, aging, certain medications and other factors, including diabetes, stroke, Alzheimer's disease and HIV/AIDS, can also cause chronic dry mouth. Currently, there is no cure for it.

Mayo Clinic researchers have established the world's first biobank of human salivary gland tissue-organoids that opens the door to research to find a cure.

"This unique biobank resource overcomes a major barrier we've faced in the field, namely: limited access to standardized salivary specimens suited for salivary gland regeneration research. This collection provides a foundation for regenerative therapy development, especially for radiation-induced chronic dry mouth," says Nagarajan Kannan, Ph.D., lead author of the study published in NPJ Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Kannan is also the director of the Mayo Clinic Stem Cell and Cancer Biology Laboratory.

Nearly 70% of patients with head and neck cancer who are undergoing radiation therapy experience permanent damage to their salivary glands. People with this condition experience diminished quality of life from a constant feeling like cotton is lining their mouths. Besides being uncomfortable, chronic dry mouth can lead to difficulties with chewing, tasting, speaking and swallowing. It also can cause tooth decay.

"Chronic dry mouth can extend long after radiation treatments are complete. It's among the top concerns I hear from patients with head and neck cancer. Unfortunately, there aren't many therapeutics available commercially for these patients," says co-author Jeffrey Janus, M.D., an ear, nose and throat specialist at Mayo Clinic in Florida.

One promising avenue of research is the cultivation of rare regenerative cells to greater numbers that can help people someday heal and grow new, healthy salivary gland cells. The biobank consists of specimens collected from 208 donors. From this repository, researchers have already found biomarkers for mature, saliva-producing cells, and with the help of a high-resolution protein map, they have identified the potential tissue origin of rare, self-renewing salivary cells.

The research team also developed a radiation injury model, which paired with the biobank, provides an integrated platform to discover new, personalized regenerative biotherapeutics.

This is a collaboration between Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Biotherapeutics, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and Department of Otolaryngology.

Review the study for a complete list of authors, disclosures and funding. 

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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

Media contact:

• Kelley Luckstein, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

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September marks the start of soybean harvest in Mankato, Minnesota, a busy time of year when farmers can't afford to be away from their fields for long. So, when Craig Smith, 66, began experiencing a burning sensation while urinating, he went to his family physician right away.

He was prescribed antibiotics, but his symptoms worsened. When Smith began to pass blood, his wife insisted that they drive straight to Mayo Clinic in Rochester — about an hour and a half away. There, Mayo Clinic physicians diagnosed him with metastatic urothelial cancer, or bladder cancer, which had spread to his spine.

Smith recalls receiving a phone call late that night from his Mayo Clinic doctor, who asked him if he wanted to just maintain his health for a few years or cure his cancer.

"I said, 'I'd like you to cure it,'" says Smith.

Seeking a bladder cancer cure

Smith's father had been a farmer, which was his dream too. But his father suggested he gain additional skills to supplement his farming income. Following his father's advice and encouragement from his high school welding teacher, Smith pursued his teaching certificate in welding. What he initially thought would be five or six years of teaching turned into a 45-year career developing welding programs at several local schools while also raising cattle and growing soybeans and corn on his 2,000-acre farm. Through his welding programs, he has trained several welders now employed by local manufacturing companies.

After his diagnosis in 2023, Smith took a hiatus from teaching and farming to focus on his cancer treatments at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato, which included chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy.

Metastatic urothelial cancer that has spread beyond the bladder usually is considered incurable and inoperable. However, Smith responded well to chemotherapy and radiation to his spine, which made his oncologist, Jacob Orme, M.D., Ph.D., and urologist, Paras Shah, M.D., consider Smith for a new, surgical approach to treatment.

Smith proceeded with the proposed surgery and had his bladder, prostate and 36 lymph nodes removed.

"In Mr. Smith's bladder, we found viable cancer cells that would have led to a relapse. Now, however, he is nearly two years from diagnosis and remains disease-free," says Dr. Shah.

Smith's positive response to treatment and surgery has spurred a clinical trial testing this aggressive approach in other bladder cancer patients. Currently, 17 participants are enrolled, and the results so far have been promising.

Advances in cancer treatment, such as immunotherapy that harnesses the body's immune system to fight cancer and the identification of biomarkers in the blood or urine that show how well a patient is responding to treatment, are helping the physicians select who will benefit most from surgery.

"The impetus for this study is to attack the cancer from multiple approaches, including treatments that cover head-to-toe and treatments that are directed right at the source tumor," says Stephen A. Boorjian, M.D., who is the David and Anne Luther Chair of Urology at Mayo Clinic and a lead proponent of the study.

"We want to remove the root of the cancer after we've burned off the leaves," adds Dr. Orme.

A team of researchers, physicians and clinical trials staff expedited the clinical trial through an accelerated pathway called a Rapid Activation Trial. It's part of a larger effort at Mayo Clinic to launch new clinical trials swiftly and effectively.

"Shortening activation timelines allows us to make a difference to more patients and their families," says Michelle Monosmith, Mayo Clinic Office of Clinical Trials operations administrator.

The study is supported by a generous donation by Ronald J. and Carol T. Beerman to Mayo Clinic and has been prioritized by Dr. Boorjian and Chair of Oncology Elisabeth Heath, M.D., to achieve more cures for men and women with bladder cancer.

"Our only goal is to help our patients live better and longer," says Dr. Orme.

That's what Smith plans to do as he continues to farm, teach and spend time with his family.

The post Farmer inspires new potential bladder cancer treatment appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.