JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new international study — believed to be the largest of its kind — examined what people know about perimenopause and what symptoms they experience. The results reveal a clear gap between what perimenopause symptoms people expect and what they experience.

Mayo Clinic researchers published a collaborative research study with Flo, a women's health application, to assess the perimenopause symptoms of 17,494 people from 158 countries. The study results are published in Menopause, the official journal of The Menopause Society.

Perimenopause marks the time leading up to the final menstrual period and includes the year after it ends. This transition can begin as early as the 30s and last for several years. Although it affects health and daily life, researchers have studied it far less than menopause.

"This study shines a light on how little we still understand about perimenopause and how much it affects people's daily lives," says first author Mary Hedges, M.D., a community internal medicine physician at Mayo Clinic in Florida. "At Mayo Clinic, we're working to expand that understanding so we can improve awareness and guide care that truly meets the needs of each patient."

Among more than 12,000 participants over age 35, the most common reported symptoms were fatigue (83%), exhaustion (83%), irritability (80%), low mood (77%), sleep problems (76%), digestive issues (76%) and anxiety (75%).

When asked what they associate with perimenopause, participants most often named hot flashes (71%), sleep problems (68%) and weight gain (65%). However, for those who said they were in perimenopause, 95% reported exhaustion and 93% reported fatigue — far higher than the rate of hot flashes. Exhaustion is a general decrease in performance, impaired memory, decreased concentration, and forgetfulness, whereas fatigue is physical exhaustion.

These findings show that fatigue, mood changes and sleep-related issues are central to many people's perimenopause experiences, the study authors say. Hormone changes may affect the body's natural rhythms and restorative sleep, while mood changes can be influenced by hormones, inflammation and diet.

The research highlights that perimenopause symptoms can significantly affect daily life, relationships and work. Responsibilities such as caregiving and coexisting health conditions may add to the strain, increasing fatigue and emotional stress.

Mayo Clinic researchers say the study underscores the importance of rethinking how clinicians approach midlife health. They emphasize that understanding what people are truly experiencing — not just what is traditionally expected — is essential to improving care and communication during this life stage.

Mayo Clinic continues to study how biological, lifestyle and social factors influence perimenopause symptoms and how greater awareness can help improve patient care. This work supports Mayo Clinic's vision to transform the practice of medicine through research that addresses real-world needs and leads to more informed, compassionate care.

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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.

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

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new study led by Mayo Clinic found that postmenopausal women receiving menopausal hormone therapy lost 35% more weight while taking tirzepatide, a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug for the treatment of overweight and obesity. The findings, published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women's Health, could expand treatment possibilities for millions of women struggling with obesity and obesity-related diseases after menopause.

Menopause can accelerate age-related weight gain and increase the likelihood of developing overweight and obesity, which are major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and other conditions. The decline in estrogen levels characteristic of menopause is also linked to changes independent of weight that can potentially raise cardiovascular risk. "This study provides important insights for developing more effective and personalized strategies for managing cardiometabolic risk in postmenopausal women," says Regina Castaneda, M.D., postdoctoral research fellow at Mayo Clinic and first author of the study.

Hormone therapy is the most effective first-line treatment for menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes and night sweats, which affect up to 75% of postmenopausal women. While evidence on how this therapy may interact with weight-loss medications is limited, some research has shown that postmenopausal women using hormone therapy experience greater weight loss when treated with the GLP-1-based obesity medication semaglutide.

No previous studies have examined whether hormone therapy might influence outcomes with tirzepatide. Dr. Castaneda and a team of researchers set out to investigate this relationship by reviewing data from 120 participants with overweight or obesity who received tirzepatide for weight management for 12 or more months. Patients receiving tirzepatide along with hormone therapy were compared to participants with similar characteristics who were not using hormone therapy.

"In this observational study, women who used menopausal hormone therapy lost about 35% more weight than women taking tirzepatide alone. Because this was not a randomized trial, we cannot say hormone therapy caused additional weight loss," says Maria Daniela Hurtado Andrade, M.D., Ph.D., endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic and senior author of the study.

"It is possible that women using hormone therapy were already engaged in healthier behaviors, or that menopause symptom relief improved sleep and quality of life, making it easier to stay engaged with dietary and physical activity changes."

Dr. Castaneda says, while more studies that control for these factors are needed, the findings are clinically meaningful. "The magnitude of this difference warrants future studies that could help clarify how GLP-1-based obesity medications and menopausal hormone therapy may interact. Interestingly, preclinical data suggest a potential synergy, with estrogen appearing to enhance the appetite-suppressing effects of GLP-1," says Dr. Castaneda.

"Next, we plan to test these observations in a randomized clinical trial and determine if benefits extend beyond weight loss — specifically, whether hormone therapy also enhances the effects of these medications on cardiometabolic measures," adds Dr. Hurtado Andrade. "If confirmed, this work could speed the development and adoption of new, evidence-based strategies to reduce this risk for millions of postmenopausal women navigating this life stage."

This research was funded by the Mayo Clinic Center for Women's Health Research. 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.

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

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ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic Transplant achieved the highest annual transplant volume in its history in 2025 by performing 2,065 solid organ transplants across its Arizona, Florida and Minnesota campuses, according to data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).

The new record surpasses 2,006 transplanted solid organs in 2024 and 1,952 in 2023, reflecting Mayo Clinic's dedication to saving more lives through continued advances in transplantation driven by new research, technology and innovation.

"This number represents new beginnings full of hope for so many," says Julie Heimbach, M.D., transplant surgeon and director of Mayo Clinic Transplant in Rochester. "This incredible milestone is only made possible by the generosity of our donors and donor families, the resilience of our transplant recipients, and the unwavering dedication of our transplant care teams."

The record volume is encouraging, as the number of patients waiting on the national transplant list remains daunting. More than 109,000 people in the U.S. are currently waiting for lifesaving organs, according to OPTN data.   

To meet this need, Mayo Clinic teams are advancing the science and delivery of transplantation through initiatives such as:

• Exploring the use of stem cells to prevent organ rejection.
• Using normothermic machine perfusion to improve organ preservation.
• Expanding living donor paired exchange programs.
• Researching artificial intelligence to transform organ transplant.

"Our work doesn't stop with the patients we serve today," says Dr. Heimbach. "Through collaboration across Mayo Clinic teams, investing in new technologies, and continued research, we are working toward a future where we can expand access and help more patients receive lifesaving transplants when they need them most."

As 2026 begins, transplant teams move forward with gratitude for the lives saved and a continued commitment to those who are still waiting.

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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
Mayo Clinic Transplant 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 heart, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas and bone marrow transplantation for both adults and children. Guided by a commitment to innovation, research and education, Mayo Clinic Transplant delivers world-leading outcomes, compassionate patient care and advances that shape the future of transplantation worldwide. Mayo Clinic Transplant 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

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ROCHESTER, Minn. — In a new pilot feasibility study, researchers from Mayo Clinic, the University of Washington School of Medicine, the University of California San Francisco, and Nextrast Inc. found that a new imaging oral agent, also known as a "contrast agent," helps radiologists better see bowel structures and disease in CT imaging when compared with the current oral contrast agents.

The introduction of a new oral contrast agent for CT imaging addresses common challenges in the diagnosis of bowel diseases, says by Joel Fletcher, M.D., lead author on the study and medical director of the Mayo Clinic CT Clinical Innovation Center. "The new oral contrast agent," he explains, "is ingested by patients prior to CT imaging and helps detect pathologies within and outside of the bowel wall in ways current imaging agents do not."

"We carefully designed this new class of oral contrast agent to overcome many of the diagnostic shortcomings of existing contrast agents for a broad range of diseases," says Benjamin Yeh, M.D., a co-author on the study, radiologist at the University of California at San Francisco and co-founder of Nextrast, which created the new agent. "The Clinical Phase 2 results confirm that our dark agent can reveal previously impossible-to-detect findings, including very small bowel tumors and subtle inflammatory conditions that are often missed with conventional agents at CT."

In their paper, the authors report findings that suggest this new agent significantly improves visualization of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or cancer within the abdomen, and may provide earlier and more confident diagnoses.

The study compared CT scans of 32 patients with the dark borosilicate oral contrast agent and scans with conventional water or iodine-based oral contrast agents, to look at anatomical structures and disease presence.

"The novel dark borosilicate contrast agent has the potential to improve the assessment of numerous pathologies, including the detection of cancer and inflammatory disorders," says Achille Mileto, M.D., a radiologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine and first author of the study.

Evaluators identified clinically relevant findings in seven patients that were not detected using the standard contrast.

"CT scans performed with the new agent will likely do a better job of displaying pathologies in the stomach and proximal small bowel, areas where CT with traditional oral contrast performs poorly," Dr. Fletcher says. "Pathologies within the lumen will be better displayed because the lumen is more distended, and the brightness of the pathologies on the CT images will be increased, making them more conspicuous.”

The researchers say further study using a larger patient population is needed, but the initial findings show promise.

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:

• Ethan Grove, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

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ROCHESTER, Minn. — Artificial intelligence (AI) applied to abdominal imaging can help predict adults at higher risk of falling as early as middle age, a new Mayo Clinic study shows. The research, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health, highlights the importance of abdominal muscle quality, a component of core strength, as a key predictor of fall risk in adults aged 45 years and older.

Falls are a leading cause of injury, especially among older adults. Mayo Clinic researchers found that early markers of fall risk may be detectable in CT scans that many patients have for other reasons.

Working with radiology bioinformatics experts, they set out to determine whether AI-derived measurements of fat distribution, muscle size and density and bone quality could reveal early signs of noteworthy physical changes.

They found that muscle density, a measure of muscle quality, was a much stronger predictor of fall risk than muscle size.

"Muscle size is just a measure of how big your muscles are," says lead author Jennifer St. Sauver, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. "Muscle density is different; on a CT scan, it's a measure of how 'dark' and homogenous the muscles are."

More homogenous muscles are denser and tend to have less fat in them, Dr. St. Sauver notes.

"Previous studies have suggested that muscle density, not size, is more strongly associated with physical strength and function," she says. "Our results support the idea that we should be focusing on muscle density, not muscle size, when we try to understand physical function."

The research team expected to see links between poorer performance on abdominal muscle measures and a higher incidence of falls in older adults, but what surprised them most was the strength of these associations in middle-aged adults and how strongly those measures predicted fall risk.

"Leg muscles have been associated with physical function, but our findings show that abdominal muscles also play a significant role," Dr. St. Sauver says.

The findings underscore the importance of maintaining good core strength throughout adulthood, she adds.

"One of the most important messages from this research is to keep your abdominal muscles in the best shape possible," Dr. St Sauver says. "Doing so may provide benefits that start in midlife and continue well into older adulthood."

For tips on improving your abdominal core strength, visit mayoclinic.org.

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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:

• Vincent Jacobbi, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

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ROCHESTER, Minn. — To help meet the potentially complex needs of patients after prostate cancer treatment and offer the precision and care necessary in the follow-up journey, Mayo Clinic’s Department of Radiation Oncology developed the PSA Control Tower. This is an intelligent monitoring tool designed to support clinicians in keeping a close, ongoing watch over patients after treatment.

Traditionally, the follow-up care for prostate cancer patients follows a standard schedule and relies on manual review. This process can be time-consuming and may delay care due to administrative steps. Subtle but important changes in test results can be missed or recognized too late. Because of this, patients often need faster intervention and a more personalized approach to care.

Prostate cancer follow-up depends on understanding prostate-specific antigen (PSA) trends over time. Each PSA test is important, but spotting early signs of recurrence requires regular contact and ongoing monitoring. As patient numbers grow and care becomes more complex, this process can be difficult to manage. Health systems are under increasing pressure to provide reliable follow-up without adding strain to care teams.

The PSA Control Tower brings together clinical information and PSA trends, using intelligent tools to support care teams in understanding which patients may need attention and when. By bringing potential concerns to light earlier, the system helps teams stay connected to patients. Throughout the process, clinical expertise, thoughtful judgment, and human connection continue to guide every decision.

Behind the scenes, the PSA Control Tower is powered by Mayo Clinic Platform, which provides a secure environment where Mayo Clinic staff have access to large amounts of de-identified patient data. This enables teams to study patterns over time and build predictive models using information such as lab results, clinical notes, imaging and pathology.

“Our hope is that the PSA Control Tower will be a rare win-win-win for patients, physicians and hospital systems,” says Mark Waddle, M.D. “The ‘Control Tower’ will allow each and every patient to be monitored 24/7 — for peace of mind that all patients are being followed per guidelines and that abnormal PSA values are acted upon.”

As new data are introduced, the predictive models continue to learn and improve. Through Mayo Clinic Platform technology, clinicians will be able to easily view PSA trends and recurrence risk through clear dashboards, giving them timely information to support informed conversations and personalized care while keeping clinical expertise and compassion at the center.

A scalable vision for the future

The PSA Control Tower reflects Mayo Clinic’s Bold. Forward. vision for precision oncology, which includes combining advanced analytics, secure data access, and seamless clinical integration. As this model expands beyond Mayo Clinic, it offers a path toward earlier detection, more efficient workflows, and scalable, data-driven follow-up care for prostate cancer patients nationwide.

“This allows our care providers to see more new patients, treat more complex patients, and focus effort related to prostate cancer follow-up on the patients that truly need their expertise and time,” says Dr. Waddle.

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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

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PHOENIX — Mayo Clinic researchers have developed and evaluated MedEduChat, an electronic health record (EHR) that works with a large language model to provide accurate, patient-specific prostate cancer education.  

The findings are published in Nature Portfolio Digital Medicine and highlight a new approach to delivering timely, individualized guidance for people navigating a prostate cancer diagnosis.  

Cancer patients often face uncertainty as they process complex information about their diagnosis and treatment options. Limited time with clinicians can make it difficult for patients to receive the detailed answers they need to understand decisions that shape their care.  

This MedEduChat study demonstrates how advanced AI, grounded in Mayo-validated clinical data, can help bridge these gaps by delivering clear, conversational explanations based on each patient's own health record.  

Understanding the patient experience using AI 

Fifteen prostate cancer patients interacted with MedEduChat for 20 to 30 minutes as part of a mixed-method usability study conducted at Mayo Clinic campuses in Arizona and Minnesota. 

Patients reported higher confidence after using the tool, with Health Confidence Scores increasing from 9.9 to 13.9 on a 16-point scale. Usability scores were also high; average survey responses ranked MedEduChat 83.7 out of 100.  

Patients noted that MedEduChat helped them understand their diagnosis in a more accessible way. The tool provided relief by explaining unfamiliar or complex terms in a clear and concise manner.  

The conversational format helped participants replace incorrect assumptions with medically accurate information derived from their own EHR.  

Clinician-evaluated accuracy and safety 

Wei Liu, Ph.D., a radiation oncology medical physicist, and three Mayo Clinic clinicians independently reviewed 85 anonymized question-and-response pairs. They rated MedEduChat's answers as highly correct (2.9 out of 3), complete (2.7 out of 3) and safe (2.7 out of 3). 

Clinicians also noted strong patient-readiness and moderate personalization, reflecting MedEduChat's ability to tailor explanations to each person's age, treatment history and cancer stage.  

Although MedEduChat delivered accurate and clinically aligned information, clinicians emphasized the importance of ongoing monitoring to prevent errors that could arise from incomplete or inconsistently documented EHR data.

The research team incorporated a multilayer approach to address these concerns and guide future system enhancements.

Combining patient-centered education with AI 

MedEduChat was designed with a structured educational model that combines closed-domain clinical data, semi-structured guidance and personalized interaction.

Patients can explore diagnosis details, learn about treatment options and side effects, and review lifestyle considerations and follow-up expectations. The tool draws only from validated sources, such as Mayo Clinic materials and National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines.

"This research demonstrates how large language models can be safely and effectively integrated into real clinical systems to improve cancer education," according to Dr. Liu. "By combining advanced AI with Mayo Clinic's electronic health records, MedEduChat delivers personalized, accurate and easy-to-understand explanations tailored to each patient's medical history."

Expanding AI cancer research 

The study team plans to translate this work into clinical use across all three Mayo Clinic campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. Next steps include expanding MedEduChat beyond radiation oncology to additional cancer specialties. These efforts aim to make personalized AI-assisted education a routine part of cancer care.

This research was funded by the National Cancer Institute, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for AI Research and Innovation, the Fred C. and Katherine B. Andersen Foundation, and The Kemper and Ethel Marley Fund in Cancer Research.

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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.  

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 New Mayo Clinic study advances personalized prostate cancer education with an EHR-integrated AI agent  appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Mayo Clinic expert explains why it is important to act before perimenopause

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Weight gain is common in women during perimenopause and after menopause, but the physical changes underlying it start much earlier in adulthood. Daniela Hurtado Andrade, M.D., Ph.D., an endocrinologist and obesity expert at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, explains why it is important to start counteracting those changes before perimenopause arrives.  

"Weight changes are not only characteristic of midlife or menopause. Data have shown that weight gain starts early in adulthood," Dr. Hurtado says. "Around age 30, your muscle mass starts decreasing gradually as part of the natural aging process, and this is exacerbated in midlife due to menopause."

The decreasing muscle mass will lead to a lower metabolism, a risk factor for weight gain, Dr. Hurtado says.

Adding to the challenge of achieving a healthy weight before and after menopause are many of the features of modern life, Dr. Hurtado says. For example, an abundance of processed foods high in sugar and fat; technology such as escalators, elevators and cars that allows people to move from place to place without walking; and the difficulty of unplugging from devices that keep people connected to work and sedentary for longer hours, with less time spent on physical activity. 

Being aware that weight-related physical changes start earlier than midlife may help people be mindful about the importance of establishing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including adequate diet and exercise (at least 150 minutes per week), well ahead of menopause, Dr. Hurtado says. It may help to track what and how much you eat, to understand how much you need to eat to feel satisfied and avoid overeating, she adds.

To mitigate muscle mass loss that occurs with aging, a healthy diet should include enough protein and exercise should include resistance training and possibly high-intensity interval training, Dr. Hurtado says.  

"And this is even more important if we are engaging in a weight-loss intervention because we know that weight-loss interventions are also associated with muscle mass loss, which can have a significant impact on the weight-loss outcomes," she says. "One of the reasons why we hit a plateau when we are losing weight is because we are losing muscle mass and our metabolism slows down."

While a healthy lifestyle is essential, it may only get someone so far in pursuit of a healthy weight, Dr. Hurtado says. The body is genetically programmed to survive, so losing weight is perceived as  negative and our bodies will try to fight it. Some people can sustain low-calorie diets for a period of time and lose weight, but eventually they may start feeling hungry, eating more and gaining weight.

"As soon as some people even think about losing weight or restricting their calories, their brain overrides those thoughts: 'No, you're actually hungry, so you're going to eat as much as you need to make sure that you do not lose weight,'" Dr. Hurtado says. "There is a proportion of people in whom diet and exercise alone will work, but for the majority, they will not due to the complex regulation of energy balance."

Many people who live with overweight or obesity will need a tool such as a medication, an endoscopic bariatric procedure or bariatric surgery to help them achieve sustained weight loss, Dr. Hurtado says. In addition to nutritional and behavioral support, they also may benefit from physical therapy or occupational therapy to help them find ways to become physically active, she adds.

In the early 40s, and perhaps even earlier, it is important for women and their healthcare team to start discussing aging-related weight changes that are happening and will happen, Dr. Hurtado says.

"Every visit with a doctor is an opportunity, especially in these times when overweight and obesity are so highly prevalent," she says. "We want to prevent rather than treat something that may be more difficult to treat for several reasons. Lifestyle interventions are the core of all weight management interventions. While we need to understand that there is no magic pill, there are tools that can facilitate adhering to lifestyle changes."

Dr. Hurtado emphasizes that obesity is a disease.

"Starting the conversation about weight management with that message may help people have a different perspective: 'OK, so they are talking about something that is not my fault, but actually has a biological basis,'" Dr. Hurtado says. "Realizing that weight problems are a disease and not a character flaw can help them think about it differently and could be very impactful on the outcomes of weight loss interventions."

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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 Aging-related weight gain in women: It may start earlier in life than you think appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A multidisciplinary surgical team at Mayo Clinic has successfully treated an exceptionally rare and life-threatening cancer that invaded a patient's heart and airway. The procedure combined advanced cardiac surgery with complex airway reconstruction and represents a significant achievement in modern cancer care. 

Tami Channel's thyroid cancer was so advanced that her family had begun planning hospice care. The tumor had severely compromised her airway and had encased her carotid artery and jugular vein, two of the body's most vital blood vessels.  

Primary cancers of the heart are extremely rare. Most tumors that appear in the heart are benign, and malignant cardiac tumors such as sarcomas account for only a small fraction of all cancers. Airway tumors involving the throat or trachea are also uncommon and often detected late because early symptoms can resemble routine respiratory issues. When a malignant growth extends into both the heart and the airway, the risks multiply quickly because the tumor can narrow or block breathing passages and interfere with the heart's ability to function. 

Faced with a tumor that had grown into vital structures and left the patient's airway nearly the width of a toothpick, the care team, including Mabel Ryder, M.D., a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist, and Eric Moore, M.D., a Mayo Clinic head and neck surgeon, recognized that conventional treatment would not be enough. Tami needed a highly complex surgery — and it needed to happen quickly. As a matter of priority, Tami would undergo an unscheduled thoracotomy and bypass, an emergency open-chest operation that requires opening the chest cavity, supporting circulation through a heart-lung machine, and working around critical airways and blood vessels. Few hospitals could coordinate such a demanding procedure so quickly. 

"We were able to make it happen because it needed to be done," Dr. Moore says. "That's the Mayo difference." 

The operating room reflected Mayo's integrated model: anesthesiology, perfusion, bronchoscopy, cardiothoracic surgery, and head and neck surgery, with each discipline contributing seamlessly. 

"It felt like a choreographed ballet," Dr. Moore says. "This kind of multidisciplinary precision doesn't just happen — it's the Mayo model in action." 

During the same operation, specialists reconstructed the airway to restore safe breathing. Procedures of this complexity rely on close coordination among cardiac surgeons, thoracic and airway surgeons, ear, nose and throat specialists, anesthesiologists, oncologists, and critical care teams. Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center experts are uniquely positioned to manage these cases because they can move quickly from diagnosis to complex surgery and recovery. 

This successful intervention shows what is possible when specialists collaborate on rare cancers that cross organ systems.  

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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 integrated care enables treatment for rare, complex cancer      appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — As rates of obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and sleep apnea increase, cases of advanced chronic liver disease and resulting liver scarring or cirrhosis also are rising. Patients often are diagnosed based on symptoms, such as gastrointestinal bleeding, fluid retention or jaundice, which happen when liver disease has progressed to a late stage. This problem led Mayo Clinic researchers to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) model that resulted in twice the number of advanced chronic liver disease diagnoses in patients without symptoms, helping physicians treat them before the disease had progressed.

"Chronic liver disease is a progressive condition, so the sooner we can diagnose it, the sooner we can stop it from advancing to irreversible stages. Early intervention may decrease the likelihood that a patient will need a liver transplant in the future," says Doug Simonetto, M.D., a Mayo Clinic transplant hepatologist and lead author of the study published in Nature Medicine.

The heart and liver are closely linked. Liver scarring may lead to increased local pressure that can affect the heart. As a result, a heartbeat test called an electrocardiogram (ECG) can capture electrical signal changes in the heart connected to advanced liver disease. Dr. Simonetto and colleagues developed an AI model to analyze data from 11,513 Mayo Clinic patients undergoing routine ECGs. The model looked for patterns connected to advanced liver disease in the ECG data, and it found twice the number of patients who were diagnosed by standard methods. The diagnosis was confirmed by validated imaging or blood tests.

"As a family physician, I've often seen how advanced liver disease — which frequently has no symptoms until it becomes irreversible — can go undetected," says David Rushlow, M.D., Mayo Clinic Health System family physician and study co-author. "Many patients identified through the AI-ECG model had no idea they were living with advanced liver disease. By identifying these cases earlier, we were able to connect them to the right treatment — at a time when intervention can truly make a difference. For these patients, the technology helped us not only to uncover a diagnosis, it created an opportunity for better health outcomes and, in some cases, may have saved lives."

In this randomized clinical trial, 248 clinicians at Mayo Clinic in Rochester and throughout the Mayo Clinic Health System participated.

"The idea that a simple, noninvasive and inexpensive test could help identify patients at risk of developing advanced liver disease was very compelling. This study provided an opportunity to evaluate AI in our real-world clinical environment, where the true test of innovation is whether it improves care for patients in the community," says Dr. Rushlow. "We're only beginning to understand the full potential of AI-enabled tools like this and the promise they hold for preventive, personalized care."

In the next steps, the researchers will follow up with the patients, who were newly diagnosed with advanced liver disease, over the next two years.

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.

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 develop AI-ECG model to diagnose liver disease earlier appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.