ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers and collaborators have shown that artificial intelligence (AI) can analyze routine pathology slides to help classify meningiomas, the most common primary brain tumor in adults, and predict a patient's risk of tumor recurrence.

The study, published in The Lancet Digital Health, demonstrates that deep learning models can extract molecular and prognostic information from standard hematoxylin and eosin, or H&E, slides — the same type of tissue images already used in routine clinical care. These insights are typically obtained through DNA methylation profiling, an advanced genetic test which provides valuable diagnostic and prognostic information but can be costly, time-consuming and is unavailable in many hospitals.

"This is one of the many studies where we can harness the strength of digital pathology by capturing the last two decades of genomic and molecular knowledge into AI algorithms," says Gelareh Zadeh, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Neurologic Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester and the David C. and Flora C. Pratt Distinguished Chief Medical Officer for Mayo Clinic Platform.

Making advanced tumor insights more accessible

Meningiomas can vary widely in behavior. Some grow slowly and may never return after treatment, while others are more aggressive and more likely to recur. Understanding that risk is critical for patients and care teams deciding whether additional treatment, such as radiation therapy, may be needed after surgery.

Molecular testing can help identify which tumors are more likely to recur and which may respond differently to treatment. But these tests require specialized technology and expertise, limiting access for many patients.

Using tissue samples, pathology images and clinical data from 672 patients, researchers trained AI to uncover information about a tumor's biology. Drawing on multiple de-identified datasets, including data resources from Mayo Clinic Platform, the models were able to classify meningioma subtypes and predict recurrence risk using standard pathology slides that are already part of routine patient care.

The findings suggest that AI could one day help clinicians obtain more detailed tumor information without requiring patients to undergo advanced genetic testing.

Helping guide treatment decisions

For patients with meningiomas, recurrence risk can influence follow-up care, imaging frequency and whether radiation therapy should be considered. The study found that AI-based predictions remained useful even after accounting for traditional clinical factors such as tumor grade, the extent to which surgery was able to remove the tumor and patient age.

Researchers also found that the AI models could identify patterns of tumor heterogeneity — differences within the same tumor — that may help explain why some tumors behave more aggressively or respond differently to treatment.

The researchers note that additional prospective studies are needed before the AI models can be used routinely in clinical care. Still, they say the findings lay the groundwork for more accessible, personalized care for patients with meningiomas — and potentially for similar AI approaches in other cancers.

"The aim is to make these algorithms readily and simply accessible for use globally, improving patient care across many healthcare settings," says Dr. Zadeh.

For a complete list of authors, disclosures and funding, review the publication.

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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 Platform
Founded on Mayo Clinic's dedication to patient-centered care, Mayo Clinic Platform enables new knowledge, new solutions, and new technologies through collaborations with health technology innovators to create a healthier world. To learn more, visit Mayo Clinic Platform at www.mayoclinicplatform.org.

Media contact:

• Tia Ford, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Mayo Clinic study shows AI can reveal brain tumor risks without costly genetic testing appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

PHOENIX — In a study published in the Liver Transplantation journal by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Mayo Clinic researchers found that a new proactive treatment protocol for alcohol use disorder after liver transplant resulted in a 0% heavy alcohol relapse rate among patients who followed the protocol, compared with a historical relapse rate of approximately 25%.

"The results were greater than we expected," says Channa Jayasekera, M.D., Mayo Clinic transplant hepatologist and senior author of the study. "Among the 21 patients in the study, none relapsed to heavy alcohol use within one year. Although this was a small cohort, having no relapses is incredibly encouraging that we have found an effective intervention."

Researchers defined heavy alcohol use as binge drinking — five or more drinks for men or four or more drinks for women on a single occasion — or drinking alcohol more than four days per week. This standard definition reflects a level of alcohol consumption associated with damage to the transplanted liver and other negative health outcomes.

New protocol aims to prevent alcohol relapse after liver transplant

Alcohol-associated liver disease is now the leading indication for liver transplantation in the U.S., and many patients requiring urgent transplantation do not have time to complete traditional alcohol treatment programs before surgery. Historically, transplant care has often focused on monitoring patients after transplant and intervening only after relapse occurs.

Patients who relapse after transplant face a higher risk of serious health complications and may not be eligible for another liver transplant, making relapse prevention a critical part of long-term care.

Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Arizona developed and studied preventing alcohol-related complications after transplantation, or PACT, a first-of-its-kind multidisciplinary protocol designed to proactively prevent alcohol relapse after transplant. The protocol combines anticraving medication, frequent patient follow-up, alcohol metabolite testing, and coordinated care from transplant hepatologists, surgeons, addiction counselors, psychiatrists and pharmacists.

Watch: Dr. Channa Jayasekera discusses Mayo Clinic PACT study

Journalists: Broadcast-quality sound bites with Dr. Channa Jayasekera are in the downloads at the end of the post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Name super/CG: Channa Jayasekera, M.D./Transplant Hepatology/Mayo Clinic.

"While a liver transplant can cure alcohol-related liver disease, it does not treat alcohol use disorder," says Dr. Jayasekera. "We increasingly understand alcohol use disorder as a chronic medical condition that deserves proactive treatment, just like other chronic diseases. Our goal is to give patients every possible tool to protect their health and preserve the gift of transplantation."

Researchers say the findings could help reshape how transplant centers nationwide approach addiction treatment after liver transplant and help reduce stigma surrounding alcohol use disorder.

"These patients are often young and have a long future ahead of them after transplant," says Dr. Jayasekera. "If these findings are replicated at other centers, this approach could become a game changer in transplant medicine."

Dr. Jayasekera notes that larger studies and replication at additional transplant centers will be important next steps.

For a complete list of authors and disclosures, 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.

About Mayo Clinic Transplant Center
Mayo Clinic Transplant Center is one of the largest and most comprehensive transplant programs in the world. With programs in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota, Mayo Clinic provides seamless, coordinated care across adult heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas transplantation. Guided by a commitment to innovation, research and education, Mayo Clinic Transplant Center delivers world-leading outcomes, compassionate patient care and advances that shape the future of transplantation worldwide.

Media contact:

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

The post Mayo Clinic study finds new post-liver transplant protocol results in 0% heavy alcohol relapse rate appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

PHOENIX — An experimental drug combination may help overcome treatment resistance in advanced kidney cancer, according to early results from a first-in-human clinical trial led by Mayo Clinic researchers.

The study evaluated the investigational drug darlifarnib in combination with the targeted therapy cabozantinib, a standard treatment for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the most common type of kidney cancer. Among patients whose disease had progressed despite prior treatment, 44% responded to the combination therapy, while disease control was achieved in 94% of participants.

"These early findings are encouraging, as more effective treatments are urgently needed for patients with advanced disease," says Yousef Zakharia, M.D., principal investigator of the study and a medical oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. He presented the findings at the 2026 International Kidney Cancer Symposium: Europe in Paris.

ccRCC accounts for most kidney cancer cases in adults, and many patients eventually experience disease progression despite treatment.

In the phase 1a/b study, researchers evaluated 18 patients who had previously received cabozantinib. About half had undergone at least three prior therapies.

"For many patients, the benefit of cabozantinib can be temporary. Tumors may develop resistance and activate alternative pathways that allow the cancer to continue growing," Dr. Zakharia says.

Researchers investigated whether adding darlifarnib, a next-generation targeted therapy designed to inhibit cancer growth signaling pathways, could help overcome treatment resistance.

The combination produced tumor shrinkage in 7 of 16 evaluable patients, corresponding to an overall response rate of 44%. Disease control, defined as either tumor stability or shrinkage, was achieved in 15 of 16 patients (94%).

"These findings require validation in a larger clinical trial to confirm the efficacy observed thus far; however, the early signal is intriguing," says Dr. Zakharia. "This study represents an important step forward and provides insight into how treatment resistance might be overcome."

The multicenter, international trial will further evaluate the benefit of the combination in a larger group.

For a complete list of trial 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.

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:

• Julie Ferris-Tilman, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Experimental drug combination shows early effectiveness in advanced kidney cancer appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Hormone therapy use among women in the U.S. remains low, even though it's an effective treatment for many menopause symptoms, according to a new Mayo Clinic study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Menopause affects more than 1 million women each year in the U.S., and up to 75% experience symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats that can last for years. Yet researchers found that use of menopausal hormone therapy has steadily declined over time.

The study found that hormone therapy use dropped from 4.4% in 2007 to 1.7% in 2023. Even among women most likely to benefit — those ages 50 to 59 — only about 3.5% were using hormone therapy in 2023.

"We have strong evidence that hormone therapy is safe and effective for many women, but that hasn't translated into how it's used in clinical practice," says Stephanie Faubion, M.D., director of Mayo Clinic's Center for Women's Health and study author.

Researchers expected hormone therapy use to rebound in recent years as awareness of menopause has increased. Instead, rates remain at their lowest level since the early 2000s, following concerns raised after the Women's Health Initiative trial.  

The new study analyzed nationwide trends in hormone therapy use among women 40 and older between 2007 and 2023 using a large U.S. health database. Hormone therapy use was defined as having at least 180 days of filled prescriptions within a given year.

In addition to the overall decline, researchers found differences across racial and ethnic groups. Use was consistently higher among white women compared with Black, Hispanic and Asian American women. Oral therapies remained the most common, although both oral and transdermal treatments declined over time.

Despite growing public conversation about menopause, the findings suggest that increased awareness has not translated into greater use of the effective treatment.

Researchers say several factors may have contributed to the findings, including ongoing misconceptions about risks, limited menopause training among clinicians, and patient concerns or lack of awareness.

"The abundance of misinformation around hormone therapy is one reason some women are not getting treatment," says Dr. Faubion. "Many are seeking care for symptoms but aren't receiving therapies that could help."

Watch: A recent hormone therapy study for women entering menopause

Journalists: Broadcast-quality sound bites are available in the downloads at the end of the post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Name super/CG: Stephanie Faubion, M.D./ Women's Health /Mayo Clinic.

Hormone therapy is not appropriate for every patient. However, for many women — particularly those younger than 60 or within 10 years of menopause — it remains a safe and effective option for symptom relief. Even low-dose vaginal estrogen, which has a favorable safety profile, remains underused.

Untreated menopause symptoms can affect sleep, mood and overall quality of life. Some women may seek care from multiple specialists without a clear diagnosis or treatment plan. Symptoms also may affect workplace productivity.

Researchers say the next step is to better understand and address the barriers preventing women from receiving appropriate care.

"Despite increased attention on menopause, we still have a long way to go," says Dr. Faubion. "Improving education for both patients and clinicians will be key to closing this gap."

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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:

• Tia Ford, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Hormone therapy use for menopause declines despite proven benefits, study finds appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers will present more than 30 studies at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, highlighting advances in precision oncology, early cancer detection, artificial intelligence (AI) and personalized cancer care. The meeting will be held May 29–June 2 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago.

Featured research includes biomarker-driven treatments for bladder and lung cancers, new approaches for triple-negative breast cancer, multicancer early detection testing, and AI-enabled analysis of the tumor microenvironment in colon cancer.

Highlighted presentations include:

Education Session: Triple-Negative Breast Cancer in 2026: Translating New Data into Clinical Decisions
Presentation time: May 30, 4:45–5 p.m. CDT
Presentation title: Stage 1 Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Who Needs What Treatment?
Presenter: Roberto Leon-Ferre, M.D., associate professor of oncology

Poster Session: Gastrointestinal Cancer — Colorectal and Anal
Presentation time: May 30, 9 a.m.–Noon CDT
Presentation title: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in the phase 3 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) (Abstract 2636)
Presenter: Amylou Dueck, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics

Poster Session: Gastrointestinal Cancer — Colorectal and Anal
Presentation time: May 30, 9 a.m.–Noon CDT
Presentation title: A deep learning approach to quantify tumor microenvironment features associated with postoperative ctDNA status and outcomes in a phase 3 FOLFOX-based adjuvant colon cancer trial (N0147; Alliance) (Abstract 3525)
Presenter: Frank Sinicrope, M.D., professor of medicine and oncology

Poster Session: Care Delivery/Models of Care
Presentation time: May 30, 9 a.m.–Noon CDT
Presentation title: Fertility concerns, counseling and preservation in AYA females with early-stage breast cancer: Chemotherapy receipt and timing (Abstract 1564)
Presenter: Bolun Liu, M.D., assistant professor of medicine

Education Session: It's 2026: Updates in Small Cell Lung Cancer — No Longer Too Small to Ignore
Presentation time: May 31, 8–8:15 a.m. CDT
Presentation title: Systemic Therapy for Small Cell Lung Cancer: Standard of Care and Recent Therapeutic Advances
Presenter: Rami Manochakian, M.D., associate professor of medicine

Case-Based Panel Session: Biomarker Treatment Strategies for Bladder Cancer: Putting the Patient at the Center
Presentation time: May 31, 8–9 a.m. CDT
Presentation title: Surgical Oncologist Perspective
Presenter: Mark Tyson II, M.D., professor of urology

Oral Abstract Session: Prevention, Risk Reduction and Genetics
Presentation time: May 31, 9:45–9:51 a.m. CDT
Presentation title: Safety and performance results from PATHFINDER 2, a registrational study of a multicancer early detection (MCED) test in an intended-use population (Abstract LBA10509)
Presenter: Karthik Giridhar, M.D., assistant professor of oncology

Poster Session: Gynecologic Cancer
Presentation time: June 1, 9 a.m.–Noon CDT
Presentation title: Development of an endometrial cancer test from a vaginal swab (Abstract 5624)
Presenter: Jamie Bakkum-Gamez, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology

Poster Session: Breast Cancer — Local/Regional/Adjuvant
Presentation time: June 1, 1:30–4:30 p.m. CDT
Presentation title: A randomized phase 2 trial of folate receptor alpha peptide vaccine in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (Abstract 536)
Presenter: Kathryn Ruddy, M.D., professor of oncology, Keith Knutson, Ph.D., professor of immunology, and co-author Saranya Chumsri, M.D., professor of oncology

Poster Session: Breast Cancer — Metastatic
Presentation time: June 1, 1:30–4:30 p.m. CDT
Presentation title: Quality of life and treatment tolerability of Bria-IMT + CPI in metastatic breast cancer (Abstract 1107)
Presenter: Saranya Chumsri, M.D., professor of oncology

Oral Abstract Session: Hematologic Malignancies — Leukemia, Myelodysplastic Syndromes, and Allotransplant
Presentation time: June 2, 9:57–10:09 a.m. CDT
Presentation title: RALLY-MF: Initial efficacy of a phase 2 study of DISC-0974, an anti-hemojuvelin antibody, to treat anemia in myelofibrosis (Abstract 6501)
Presenter: Naseema Gangat, M.B.B.S., professor of medicine and co-author Ayalew Tefferi, M.D., professor of medicine and Barbara Woodward Lips Professor II

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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:

• Julie Ferris-Tillman, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Mayo Clinic presents oncology breakthroughs spanning data science, early detection, targeted therapies at ASCO 2026 appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

The Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP) has served as a cornerstone for population health research for six decades, providing the longitudinal data essential for predicting health outcomes. Today, the REP functions as a resource in helping to study medical conditions, including heart failure, dementia, cancer and bone health.  

Because it maintains decades of history on a stable population, the REP allows investigators to identify long-term trends such as early warnings of rising disease incidence that would be difficult to capture in shorter, isolated studies. 

This year, as the REP celebrates its 60th anniversary, Mayo Clinic is highlighting how this historic medical records linkage system remains a powerful tool that helps scientists study population health over many decades. 

"The REP is a unique collaboration between health care providers, patients and scientists to use medical record information to study health and health outcomes," says Jennifer St. Sauver, Ph.D., co-principal investigator of the Rochester Epidemiology Project. 

"Since 1966, the REP has supported research on virtually every health condition, including studies of what causes different diseases, how patients respond to surgeries and therapies, and how diseases change over time." 

Dr. St. Sauver notes that the REP has been instrumental in understanding the pathogenesis of so many different conditions that it is difficult to name only a few. 

"The REP has supported major research programs to understand bone and joint conditions; Alzheimer's disease and related dementias; lupus; rheumatoid arthritis; kidney stones; heart failure; (and) breast, prostate, blood and pancreatic cancers," says Dr. St. Sauver.  

The next phase: AI-driven research 

By combining 60 years of history with tomorrow's technology, the REP continues to find new ways to help people live longer, healthier lives.  

Today, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to accelerate these discoveries even further.  

"The REP is uniquely positioned to evolve into a next-generation, AI-enabled population health platform," says Cui Tao, Ph.D., the Nancy Peretsman and Robert Scully Chair of Artificial Intelligence and Informatics at Mayo Clinic. 

"Key opportunities include leveraging linked longitudinal data to simulate interventions, accelerate clinical research and support real-world evidence generation." 

Dr. Tao notes that the REP can also help bridge population-level insights with individualized risk prediction and precision intervention strategies. 

"As AI methods continue to mature, the REP provides an exceptional foundation for integrating multimodal data and enabling scalable translational research," says Dr. Tao.  

"With nearly 2.9 million patient records and decades of follow-up data, the REP represents a rare scientific resource with the potential to help shape the future of precision medicine and AI-driven healthcare discovery." 

Dr. Tao shares that Mayo Clinic Epidemiology and REP collaborators will participate in workshops and lightning talks at the upcoming AI Research Summit taking place June 4-5, which will include an evening commemorating the program's 60th anniversary.  

The post How 60 years of health data helped shape modern medicine appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Each year, about 90,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with a brain tumor, including roughly 25,000 with cancerous tumors. These tumors are especially challenging because in the brain, even small changes can affect critical functions like movement, speech and memory.

Across Mayo Clinic's campuses in Rochester, Arizona and Florida, researchers are advancing the understanding of brain tumor biology, improving diagnostic precision and developing new treatment approaches to support timely, personalized care.

Reading a brain tumor's molecular "fingerprint"

DNA methylation profiling is helping redefine how brain tumors are diagnosed and classified. By analyzing chemical markers on DNA, this approach creates a "molecular fingerprint" that can reveal a tumor's type, behavior and potential treatment options. This provides insight beyond what can be seen under a microscope.

In a large international study, Mayo Clinic researchers expanded the Heidelberg DNA methylation classifier. The classifier compares a patient's tumor profile to a reference database of central nervous system CNS tumors. The updated tool identifies 184 tumor subclasses (up from 91), achieves 95% accuracy and detects chromosome changes in a single test. For patients, this means one sample may help answer multiple diagnostic questions.

Methylation profiling complements traditional pathology by adding an objective layer of information, especially when findings are unclear. This integrated approach combines molecular, microscopic and clinical data to improve diagnostic accuracy.

It also may help guide care after surgery. In a study of nearly 2,000 meningiomas, Mayo Clinic investigators used methylation-based models to estimate the chance a tumor would recur and potential benefit from radiation, helping group tumors into those that may:

• Benefit from additional radiation.
• Be monitored closely.
• Require alternative treatments, such as clinical trials.

Together, these advances support a more precise approach to brain tumor care.

Understanding pediatric and AYA brain tumors to personalize treatments

Each year, about 12,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs), which are people between the ages 15 and 39, are diagnosed with brain and other CNS tumors. Tumors in this group often behave differently from those in older adults, yet they remain understudied.

In one Mayo Clinic study, researchers analyzed thousands of tumor samples to better understand these differences. They found that AYAs can develop a mix of tumor types, some more common in children and others typically seen in older adults, as well as tumors more specific to this age group. These tumors also showed distinct biological patterns, which may help improve classification, diagnosis and more personalized treatment.

A second Mayo-led study focused on meningiomas, one of the most common brain tumors in this age group. Researchers found that tumors in pediatric and AYA patients tend to be less aggressive than those in older adults. However, commonly used prediction tools — largely developed using adult data — were less accurate for younger patients. When adjusted using age-specific data, these tools performed significantly better.

These findings highlight the importance of including AYA and younger patients in research to improve diagnostics and guide care.

Turning the brain's barrier into a gateway

For aggressive brain tumors such as glioblastoma, delivering treatments across the protective blood–brain barrier (BBB) remains a major challenge. In a recent review, Mayo Clinic investigators highlight emerging strategies to temporarily and precisely open the BBB, allowing therapies to better reach tumor cells. Early studies suggest these approaches can increase drug delivery to brain tissue by two- to nearly six-fold.

In a separate study, Mayo Clinic researchers examined how well two different drugs reached tumor tissue during surgery. They found that drug delivery varied widely, not only between drugs but also within different areas of the same tumor. Imaging did not always predict how much of a drug reached the tumor, underscoring the complexity of treatment delivery.

Mayo Clinic researchers also developed an experimental nanotherapy that uses microscopic particles to deliver two cancer drugs directly to brain tumors. In preclinical models of glioblastoma, this approach extended survival.

Combining radiation and drug therapies 

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a serious childhood brain tumor. Radiation therapy remains the standard treatment, but it is not curative. Researchers are exploring targeted therapies that deliver treatment directly to tumor cells using specific markers. In preclinical models, combining radiation with these approaches improved tumor cell damage and slowed growth. Further research is needed to confirm safety and effectiveness in patients.

Researchers also are working to better match patients with appropriate radiation treatments. In a study of stereotactic radiosurgery, a highly focused form of radiation, Mayo Clinic investigators identified factors linked to short-term survival, including overall health, control of cancer outside the brain and neurological symptoms. These insights may help guide more personalized treatment decisions.

In another study of clival chordoma, a rare skull base cancer, researchers found that follow-up scans after proton beam therapy can sometimes appear to show tumor growth when changes are actually temporary treatment effects. This phenomenon, known as pseudoprogression, may reflect inflammation or healing, and it can later stabilize or resolve. Recognizing these patterns may help avoid unnecessary procedures while ensuring appropriate monitoring.

Advancing immunotherapy and targeted treatments

Understanding how the immune system interacts with brain tumors is an important area of research. In a recent study, Mayo Clinic researchers identified a protein called galectin-9 that may help immune cells recognize and interact with tumor cells in gliomas. The findings provide new insight into tumor biology and may help guide future immunotherapy approaches.

These advances reflect Mayo Clinic's commitment to advancing brain tumor research and care. By connecting discoveries in the laboratory with patient care, researchers are working to improve diagnosis, guide treatment decisions and move closer to more effective therapies.

The post Unlocking the brain: New research is changing how tumors are diagnosed and treated  appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Brain inflammation — known medically as encephalitis — remains one of medicine's most dangerous neurological emergencies. In a new invited Seminar published May 16 in The Lancet, Sarosh Irani, B.M., B.Ch., D.Phil., a Mayo Clinic neurologist and neuroimmunologist, outlines the latest advances in recognizing and treating both infectious and autoimmune forms of this serious condition. Here he explains what's driving this growing global threat, how new approaches are transforming diagnosis and treatment, and what it will take to improve outcomes for patients worldwide.

Encephalitis has been called an urgent global health threat. Why is this condition so important right now?

Encephalitis affects more than a million people worldwide each year and causes an estimated 100,000 deaths annually. The World Health Organization has described it as an "increasing global threat" and an urgent public health priority.

Some cases are infectious — triggered by viruses spread by mosquitoes or by re-emerging illnesses such as measles. Others are autoimmune, meaning the immune system mistakenly attacks the brain.

Over the past two decades we've learned that autoimmune forms are at least as common as infectious ones in developed countries. That represents a major shift in how we understand this disease.

What has changed in the way doctors diagnose encephalitis over the past decade?

Historically, encephalitis was thought to be almost entirely infectious. But we now recognize many autoimmune forms defined by specific antibodies targeting the brain. That has transformed diagnosis.

In our Lancet Seminar, we provide a practical clinical approach to help physicians quickly distinguish infectious from autoimmune causes. The goal is simple: help clinicians make the right call within the first 24 hours using the patient's history, brain imaging and spinal fluid testing.

Timing matters enormously. In herpes encephalitis, early antiviral treatment reduces mortality from roughly 70% to about 20%. In autoimmune encephalitis, our work has shown that even short delays in immunotherapy can worsen long-term outcomes.

By giving physicians a structured, bedside decision-making tool, we aim to reduce missed diagnoses and avoid unnecessary or inappropriate treatments. That's a direct example of Mayo Clinic's commitment to transform the practice — translating cutting-edge science into everyday clinical care.

Why is early spinal fluid testing so important?

Spinal fluid testing gives doctors a direct window into what is happening in the brain and is essential when serious inflammation is suspected. However, it is sometimes delayed because of concerns about complications.

We emphasize that, in most patients, early testing is safe and should not be postponed unnecessarily. Delays can mean lost time in starting antivirals or immune treatments — and in this condition, hours truly matter.

You describe emerging therapies, including targeted immune treatments and CAR-T approaches. Are we entering a new era of treatment?

Yes, that's exactly how I would describe it. Traditionally, we've used broad immune-suppressing medications for autoimmune encephalitis. These can work, but they affect many parts of the immune system and elsewhere, carrying multiple side effects.

Now we're seeing the development of more targeted therapies — including treatments that selectively remove harmful B cells or block specific immune pathways. Some experimental approaches are even designed to "reboot" the immune system in a precise way.

This aligns with Mayo Clinic's Precure vision. If we can understand what triggers the immune system to attack the brain in the first place, we move closer not just to treatment, but to prevention — and ultimately cure.

Your paper highlights patient-reported outcomes. Why is measuring recovery beyond survival so important?

Most patients now survive encephalitis. But survival is not the full story.

Many of our patients often experience long-term cognitive, emotional and physical challenges — including memory problems, fatigue, mood changes and difficulty returning to work or school. Traditional outcome scales, often borrowed from stroke care, do not fully capture these lasting effects.

Our team developed the first patient-reported outcome measure specifically for autoimmune cases. Listening directly to patients helps ensure we measure what truly matters and design treatments that improve quality of life — not just survival rates.

What are the biggest unanswered questions in this field today?

We still don't fully understand why autoimmune encephalitis begins. Identifying those triggers — genetic, environmental or infectious — is central to prevention.

Encephalitis costs an estimated $2 billion annually in U.S. hospitalizations alone, not counting long-term rehabilitation and caregiver burden.

The opportunity is enormous. Encephalitis is often called a "knife-edge" disease — devastating if missed, often reversible if caught early. We're bringing research, practical diagnostic tools and patient insights together to help doctors recognize it sooner, treat it more precisely and, ultimately, prevent it.

The post When the immune system attacks the brain: recognizing and treating a life-threatening condition appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are enabling researchers to advance discoveries into patient care faster and with greater precision, opening new ways to address complex needs in medicine.

"With AI, they're now able to ask and answer questions that they were not able to answer before," says Cui Tao, Ph.D., a professor of Biomedical Informatics and the Nancy Peretsman and Robert Scully Chair of Artificial Intelligence and Informatics at Mayo Clinic.  

Researchers are also using AI to identify clinical trials for patients and to accelerate the research process — from early ideas to new treatments in patient care.   

Watch: Dr. Cui Tao explains how researchers are using AI tools to accelerate their work

Journalists: Broadcast-quality soundbites are available for downloads at the end of the post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." 

Using AI to accelerate cures  

Dr. Cui Tao shares her perspective on how researchers are using AI to reshape scientific discovery and accelerate the path to patient care: 

What does it mean to use AI to accelerate research?  
Using AI to accelerate research discovery is more than just using AI as a downstream analytics tool. It's about being able to embed AI into the whole procedure.  

Traditionally, when we conduct research, it's more of a linear procedure — from hypothesis generation to study design to collecting data and, finally, getting the result and interpreting the result. That's a linear process. But with AI, we're able to accelerate the whole process and iteratively test each step at the same time. 

How does using AI change the way studies and clinical trials are designed?
We can actually develop different AI agents for cohort matching, for clinical design, to refine how we conduct clinical trials in the traditional way.  

Our teams can also use AI to help patients understand the complex informed consent forms and to help identify those patients who are likely to be eligible for certain trials, from recruiting to data analysis to long-term follow-up. 

What do researchers tell you excites them most about these approaches? 
With AI, now we're able to accelerate everything, so it actually saves critical time for our researchers so that they can focus more fully on innovation, creativity and research.  

How is Mayo Clinic ensuring discovery is focused on the right things for patients?  
Whatever AI tools we design, they need to fulfill the needs of our patients and clinicians. We also emphasize AI regulation — the AI tools need to be safe, need to be trustworthy, before we can put them into actual patient care. 

Why is a multidisciplinary approach across biomedical, computational and social sciences important? From physicians to clinicians to data scientists to AI scientists and engineers ... We need to all work together to make sure that whatever we're building is impactful.  

And we need to ensure a bidirectional translational path: First, we need to be able to understand the clinical or biomedical question and translate that into an AI problem; and second, we need to be able to translate the AI solutions back into practice so that people can use them. 

Join leading experts at Mayo Clinic's AI Research Summit 

Join Dr. Tao and other experts at Mayo Clinic's AI Research Summit on June 4–5 in Rochester, Minnesota, and online. This conference brings together leaders and innovators to share advances in healthcare AI research, explore emerging methods and build collaborations.  

This year's summit will explore topics such as multi-agent clinical intelligence, simulation, virtual twins and multimodal foundation models. Sessions will also focus on translating AI research into clinical practice and building trustworthy, governable systems. 

In addition to Dr. Tao, the keynote speakers are:  

• Peter Lee, Ph.D., president of Microsoft Research and Mayo Clinic trustee 
• Micky Tripathi, Ph.D., chief AI implementation officer at Mayo Clinic 
• Yong Chen, Ph.D., director of the Center for Health AI and Synthesis of Evidence at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania 
• Yi Qian, vice president of Global Real-World Evidence at Johnson & Johnson  
• Matt Redlon, chair, AI Program, and vice president, Digital Biology, Mayo Clinic Digital Pathology   

Register by May 30 on the event website. 

The post How researchers are using AI to accelerate the path to cures (VIDEO) appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

A new era of medicine is emerging at Mayo Clinic — one that finds disease before symptoms appear 

ROCHESTER, Minn. — When Mayo Clinic researchers sequenced the genomes of 484 seemingly healthy adults, they found that about 13% carried a serious, previously unrecognized genomic risk — conditions those patients did not know about and that standard care would likely miss.

Nearly all participants, 98.6%, had at least one genetic finding, and for most, the results called for monitoring. The study, published in Genetics in Medicine, also takes a closer look at what it takes to turn those findings into the proper follow-up care.

Among the 13%, the actionable findings pointed to serious risks, including hereditary breast and ovarian cancer; Lynch syndrome, linked to colorectal cancer; cardiomyopathy; long QT syndrome; and amyloidosis.

"These are people traditional testing based on symptoms or family history would not identify," says Dr. Konstantinos Lazaridis, the Carlson and Nelson Endowed Executive Director of the Center for Individualized Medicine and senior author of the study. "This study helps define the blueprint for integrating genomic insight into care at scale — turning information into decisions that can change the trajectory of disease."

From discovery to care

Identifying the risk, it turns out, is the easiest part. Acting on it is far more complex. Nearly every case required clinical interpretation, documentation and communication. This work fell largely to genetic counselors, who reviewed results, prepared individualized summaries and helped guide next steps for patients and care teams.

"Genetic counselors are often the first people to share this kind of information with patients," says Jessa Bidwell, a certified research genetic counselor and first author of the study. "There can be surprise, anxiety, devastation, and at times relief at finally having an explanation. Our role is to meet people in that moment and help them understand what their health risks might be, based on the genetic finding, and their personal and family history."

Most participants with actionable findings followed through, completing referrals and connecting with primary care specialists. Yet fewer than half had a documented conversation with a primary care professional after receiving results — underscoring how difficult it remains to integrate genomic findings into routine care.

The study positions predictive genomic screening as both a clinical opportunity and a systems challenge. The science exists. Researchers and clinicians are still building the infrastructure to act on it consistently.

At Mayo Clinic, that infrastructure is beginning to take shape through an initiative called Precure. Genomic screening is one part of that initiative, which aims to detect disease earlier by combining genetic data with other biological signals.

"Precure is one example of a moonshot for human health at Mayo Clinic," says Dr. Lazaridis, who leads the initiative. "It reflects Mayo Clinic's commitment to move medicine beyond treatment and toward lasting wellness." - Dr. Lazaridis

Predicting disease before it begins 

Most diseases don't arrive without warning. They begin with small shifts in genes, molecules, proteins and immune signals that develop over time, often years before symptoms appear.

Precure is Mayo Clinic's enterprise-wide effort to detect those early signals and intervene sooner. Powered by advanced computing and artificial intelligence (AI), the initiative currently focuses on five organ systems — the brain, heart, kidneys, liver and lungs — studying conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, heart failure and chronic liver disease to better understand how they emerge and progress.

The work draws on expertise from across Mayo Clinic and is supported by Mayo Clinic Platform, which brings together large-scale patient data and advanced computing to enable scientists to study disease across populations.

"Precure is one example of a moonshot for human health at Mayo Clinic," says Dr. Lazaridis, who leads the initiative. "It reflects Mayo Clinic's commitment to move medicine beyond treatment and toward lasting wellness."

Precure is part of Mayo Clinic's Bold. Forward. strategy to Cure, Connect and Transform healthcare. The genomic screening study is an early demonstration of what that looks like in practice: science that doesn't wait for disease to announce itself, and a system already being built to act on what it finds.

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:

• Julie Ferris-Tillman, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Mayo Clinic study finds 1 in 8 adults carries hidden genetic risk — and reveals what it takes to act on it  appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.