NEWS, PUBLICATIONS, AND RELATED STORIES Agreement strengthens relationship and spawns new scientific collaborations "TGen takes seriously our commitment to work toward helping patients with cancer and other disorders. This announcement is another mechanism allowing TGen and Mayo faculty to work bi-directionally in a more seamless fashion," said Jeffrey Trent, Ph.D., TGen's president and scientific director. View Related  Study lays foundation for future development of effective treatments "This model helps us understand the genetic properties that lead to multiple myeloma and provides a framework for developing better therapies," said Leif Bergsagel, M.D., a Mayo Clinic physician and lead investigator for the study. "We will now be able to test new treatments on models." View Abstract  Procedure also could prevent recurrence "We show that if you kill tumor cells directly in the tumor itself, you can get a weak immunity against the tumor, but if you use this virus to kill tumor cells in the lymph nodes, you get a higher immunity against the tumor," says Richard Vile, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic specialist in molecular medicine and immunology and the study's principal investigator. View Abstract  News from Jacksonville, Fla. "Maintaining our FACT accreditation continues to be an important achievement for the transplant program," says program director, pediatric hematologist/oncologist Michael Joyce, M.D., Ph.D., with Nemours Children's Clinic. "The physicians, hematology/oncology nursing, allied health and laboratory staff at Mayo, Nemours and Wolfson all worked extremely hard to achieve this goal." View Related  New treatment provides a 'more frequent, rapid and deep response' "For newly-diagnosed multiple myeloma patients, this new drug treatment provides a more frequent, rapid and deep response, compared with earlier treatment options," said Craig B. Reeder, M.D., a Mayo Clinic hematologist/oncologist and lead investigator of the study. View Related Presented - American Society of Hematology's 2007 meeting "We believe this to be the first large systematic evaluation of the risk factors leading to leukemic transformation in primary myelofibrosis," says Jocelyn Huang, M.D., lead author and hematology researcher at Mayo Clinic. "And in the process, we discovered some unexpected results." View Related  Presented at the American Society of Hematology's 2007 meeting "In this study we were hoping to find that a lower dose of steroids would be just as effective," says Vincent Rajkumar, M.D., Mayo Clinic Cancer Center hematologist and lead investigator of the study. "We were surprised to find that the regimen with high-dose steroids actually was decreasing survival, besides contributing to increased side effects." View Related    Study presented at the American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting http://genetics.faseb.org/genetics/ashg/ashgmenu.htm View Related         Highly effective translational research collaboration continues Mayo Clinic Cancer Center is a national recognition of excellence in education, research and treatment of cancer. The lymphoma SPORE is one of six SPORE cancer research programs at Mayo's locations in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. Mayo Clinic also has been awarded SPORE grants in brain, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancer, and shares a SPORE for myeloma. View Related      Special Event: June 26, 2007 Activities will include informative discussions with local myeloma experts on treatment options and experiences, including a Q&A session. Educational materials and refreshments will be available. Please join us. View Related   Mayo Clinic Cancer Center had researchers from many disciplines presenting more than 60 oral abstracts and dozens of posters, also educational sessions and other special events throughout the 2007 ASCO program, June 1-5. View Related   The National Institutes of Health chose Mayo Clinic as one of the first 12 institutions to receive Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) in October 2006. "There are two objects in medical education: to heal the sick and advance the science." - Dr. Charles H. Mayo View Related  Yuan-Ping Pang, Ph.D. established the Computer-Aided Molecular Design Laboratory (CAMDL) to learn more about how biological systems function and to establish models that could lead to new treatments for infectious diseases and cancer. View Related  Multiple myeloma is the second most common blood cancer in the United States after lymphoma, yet no new treatments have been developed in a generation. "Our goal is to deliver individualized care based on the latest genomic information and drugs available," Dr. Lief Bergsagel says. "We intend to find ways to offer the right drug to the right patient each time. And we're set to be among the first to make it happen for patients with multiple myeloma." View Related  Special Event: June 3, 2007 -- Rochester, Minn. "This celebration of life is for everyone," says Janine Kokal, local planning committee chair and a Mayo Clinic nurse educator. This is a free event, but reservations are required by May 28, 2007. To register, call the American Cancer Society at 507-424-4602 or 1-888-535-4227 (toll free). View Related     Special Event: May 14-17, 2007 -- Phoenix, Ariz. "Every day, thousands of children and adults with leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases are looking for a donor for a marrow or cord blood transplant," says Jay Maningo-Salinas, R.N., manager of the Apheresis Program at Mayo Clinic. "For a chance to survive, these patients need healthy marrow or blood cells to help their bodies make new, healthy blood cells either from a donor within their family or an unrelated donor from the National Marrow Donor Program Registry." View Related  Mayo Clinic Cancer Center researchers have found that chaetocin, a by-product of a common wood mold, has promise as a new anti-myeloma agent. Results of their study are available online in the March 15, 2007, issue of Blood. Mayo Clinic has a long tradition of leadership in myeloma research and novel therapeutic development, with the oldest and largest myeloma program in the country. Dr. Bible’s research is part of an ongoing initiative within Mayo’s Dysproteinemia and Myeloma Groups to find promising natural or man-made agents for the treatment of myeloma and other blood diseases; and to investigate at a basic science level and subsequently translate that research into clinical practice. View Abstract   From studies reviewing basic laboratory science, to clinical trials and the final translation of that research to individualized patient care, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center has a broad portfolio of presentations at the 2007 AACR meeting. View Related  "So in a nutshell, we have a highly effective and safe regimen now, which is orally administered for the treatment of myeloma. Patients can take this and not know they are on chemotherapy. That's how effective this is." -- Vincent Rajkumar, M.D. View Related    Publication: Mayo Clinic Proceedings -- March 2007 The purpose of this consensus is to offer a simplified, evidence-based algorithm of decision making for patients with newly diagnosed myeloma. In cases in which evidence is lacking, our team of 18 Mayo Clinic myeloma experts reached a consensus on what therapy could generally be recommended. The focal point of our strategy revolves around risk stratification. Although a multitude of risk factors have been identified throughout the years, including age, tumor burden, renal function, lactate dehydrogenase, beta2-microglobulin, and serum albumin, our group has now recognized and endorsed a genetic stratification and patient functional status for treatment. View Related  Mayo Clinic Cancer Center has opened a new Phase I clinical trial testing an engineered measles virus against multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow that currently has no cure. This is the third of a series of molecular medicine studies in patients testing the potential of measles to kill cancer. View Related  Medical Edge Newspaper Readers: A cancer diagnosis is frightening. But the number of cancer survivors continues to grow, thanks to new and improved treatments and earlier diagnosis. More than 10 million Americans with a history of cancer were alive in January 2002. One in every six people over age 65 has survived cancer. It's encouraging to look at the progress... View Related   Intent on incorporating the patient's voice into cancer research and care, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center investigators have sought out the best practices, promising techniques and novel applications for quality of life (QOL) assessment. "We expect that QOL assessments will someday become as routine as having your blood pressure checked," says Dr. Jeff Sloan. "After all, if the best interests of the patient are what we seek, incorporating their needs into regular care is imperative." View Abstract  Findings may help target specific, individualized treatments to patients Certain patients suffering from multiple myeloma, a difficult-to-treat cancer of the plasma cells, may respond positively to a drug that shows potential to extend their survival rates by as much as six months, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. For the first time, Mayo researchers have identified tumor-specific alterations in the cellular pathway by which the multiple myeloma drug, bortezomib (Velcade), works, as well as nine new genetic mutations in cancer cells that should increase a patient's chance of responding to the agent. View Related  Novel therapies are greatly improving the long-term outlook for patients with multiple myeloma, say researchers at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, who have led efforts in testing these treatments and moving them quickly into first-line therapies. "These treatments represent a revolutionary approach to the care of patients with multiple myeloma, especially in those who are newly diagnosed," says S. Vincent Rajkumar, M.D., hematologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and lead author of some of the studies presented. Multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells, is the second most common blood cancer in the United States, diagnosed in about 15,000 people annually. As yet, no cure exists for the disease, and average survival has been about three to four years, says Dr. Rajkumar. View Abstract  "We were pleased with the results of this study because it demonstrates that tipifarnib has some single-agent activity in this aggressive tumor group," says Dr. Witzig. "Now we need to combine it with other effective agents to further enhance activity." Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Iowa, presented results Dec. 11, 2006, of a Phase II clinical study indicating that an oral drug, tipifarnib, can stall or reverse disease progression for patients with relapsed aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  "We are very pleased with the results of this study," says Dr. Kay. "This is a new, viable option for high-risk patients who might not have had much hope before, and it's especially exciting that it works for patients of all age groups." Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, working in collaboration with Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, presented evidence Sunday that a novel regimen of three chemotherapy drugs, pentostatin, cyclophosphamide and rituximab, resulted in significant clinical response in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia. View Abstract  Defining how bortezomib works to help physicians find patients most likely to respond to the drug Researchers at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, collaborating with industry, have, for the first time, identified tumor specific alterations in the cellular pathway by which the multiple myeloma drug bortezomib (Velcade) works, and they have identified nine new genetic mutations in cancer cells that should increase a patient's chance of responding to the agent. View Abstract  Publication: Mayo Clinic Proceedings -- Dec. 2006 Discontinuation of urine studies and reliance on a diagnostic algorithm using only serum studies (protein electrophoresis, immunofixation, and free light chain quantitation) missed 2 (0.5%) of the 428 monoclonal gammopathies with urinary monoclonal proteins, and these 2 cases required no medical intervention. View Related  Inside Mayo Clinic Magazine Patients with metastatic melanoma have new hope, according to a recently published study by Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. The study shows that a combination of two drugs, paclitaxel and carboplatin, appears to be effective for metastatic melanoma when traditional treatments have failed. The study was published in the journal Cancer. View Abstract  Custom-fitting a Drug for a Child with Leukemia Some 20 years ago, Mayo Clinic researcher Richard Weinshilboum, M.D., and colleagues made a groundbreaking discovery: They determined why a dose of a drug that could produce astonishing cures in a lethal childhood cancer sometimes also could produce side effects that killed children. The reason behind this strikingly individual response to a drug was found in the genes. With this profound insight into the role that a patient's genetic make-up plays in how the patient responds to a drug, the new field of pharmacogenomic medicine was born. It continues to grow today—Mayo Clinic research leading the way discovering new treatment applications that range from depression, to breast cancer, to chemical dependency. View Related  Tim Stepanek passed away in January 2006 after a long and heroic battle with amyloidosis and multiple myeloma. His family hopes that Tim's story will inspire others help support research to find new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent amyloidosis. "I think the important thing for me and for them [researchers] was to connect it with a patient. They work very, very hard – way over 40 hours a week. They don't often get the benefit of connecting the practical aspects of what they're doing with the reality of patients' lives. That's the exciting thing." Tim Stepanek View Related  Seeking a cure for glioblastoma multiforme, other deadly cancers Mayo Clinic is unique in its pursuit of oncolytic measles vaccine strains for cancer treatment, and the research has grown from the most basic laboratory science to the sophisticated therapy being tested today in several tumor types, including glioblastoma multiforme, recurrent ovarian cancer and multiple myeloma. View Related  More than 200 clinicians and researchers attended the 2nd Mayo Clinic Angiogenesis Symposium, Oct. 27-29, 2006. Angiogenesis is the specific growth of new blood vessels to accommodate tumor growth and the spread of many cancers. View Related   Publication: Cancer Research -- Oct. 15, 2006 To understand better the underlying mechanisms by which tumor cells are resistant to CTL-mediated apoptosis, Yang et al. used a human model of B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (B-cell NHL) to show that intratumoral Treg cells inhibit the proliferation and granule production of activated autologous infiltrating CD8+ T Cells. View Related Mayo Awarded $72 Million for Clinical and Translational Research "The Mayo Clinic Center for Clinical and Translational Research will coordinate the efforts of our outstanding clinical research education and training programs, our world-class scientists and clinical research investigators, and the vast resources of Mayo Clinic to speed the process of turning our research discoveries into the medications and treatments our patients need and expect," says Robert Rizza, M.D., Mayo Clinic's director for research and the director of the new center. View Related  The Clinical Research Training Program provides a formal education in all aspects of clinical research, including grant-writing, legal and ethical issues, statistics, epidemiology and study design and protocols. "I realized how exciting research can be, and how exciting it is to advance the science." Jon Ebbert, M.D. View Related  Medical Edge Newspaper DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Is thalidomide now approved for use in patients with multiple myeloma? My father took it "off label" several years ago and had a very good result. Are there other treatment options for this disease? View Related  Mayo Clinic's multiple myeloma research team has jointly issued a consensus statement regarding the use of bisphosphonates to prevent or treat bone disease associated with the disease. Their recommendations address several controversial issues, including the type of bisphosphonate to be used and the duration of such therapy, and are available in the August 2006 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. View Abstract  Publication: Mayo Clinic Proceedings -- Aug. 2006 These guidelines were developed in the Interest of patient safety and will be reexamined as new data emerge regarding risks and benefits. View Related  Publication: Mayo Clinic Proceedings -- Aug. 2006 Our experience indicates that with appropriate technique, primary surgical treatment may offer benefit to selected patients with osteonecrosis of the jaw. View Related  "This collaboration will enable us to work with the Indian Health Service to address health care-related needs specific to Native Americans, ranging from developing research initiatives to address unique problems, to finding ways to improve access to medi View Related In helping young investigators, Mayo Clinic again is connecting all the dots -- leading back to the same point, the same mission, ongoing and yet unchanged for over a century: the needs of the patient come first. New, young investigators are critical to biomedical research. Their fresh ideas, innovativeness, and enthusiasm are necessary for scientific progress. Yet the steps from a junior research position toward a self-sufficient laboratory can be difficult. Mayo Clinic is dedicated to fostering future, investigators. Here we look at two of them and what Mayo is doing to help. View Related  Most recent research demonstrates the effectiveness of Thal/Dex therapy We are happy to be able to report such positive results for this still incurable cancer," said Dr. Vincent Rajkumar. "Not only have we consistently shown that Thal/Dex reduces the amount of cancer cells in the bone marrow, but now we can state that primary therapy with this combination produces superior long-term results compared to dexamethasone alone." View Related  In scientific literature, epidemiologic studies have linked reduced rates of certain cancers to cultures in Asia where green tea is a popular drink. Legend has it that the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung discovered tea around 2737 B.C.E. He was known as the Divine Healer, and that title is almost all one needs to know about why legends, right or wrong, persist. Green tea has come down through the ages, trailing behind it mythic tales of health benefits from "cheering the heart" to reducing inflammation, from improving bladder function to treating tumors. View Related  Robert B. Diasio, M.D., has been appointed Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Director, succeeding Franklyn Prendergast, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Diasio, who will be based at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, will also direct cancer center activities at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. View Related State and regional cancer survivors, their families and friends will come together to celebrate life during the upcoming 19th annual National Cancer Survivors Day Celebration, Sunday, June 4, 2006. "This celebration of life is for everyone," says Janine Kokal, Mayo Clinic nurse educator and local planning committee chair. "Whether you're a cancer survivor, a family member, a friend or a medical professional, National Cancer Survivors Day provides an opportunity for cancer survivors to connect with other survivors, and reunite with medical staff and families they've met along the way." View Related  Medical Edge Newspaper First, a cancer diagnosis. Then, worries about possible side effects from the treatment -- the nausea and vomiting you've heard about from others who have been treated for cancer. This article explores some of the options available for dealing with the side effects of treatment. View Related   While the incidence of most cancers has been declining, that of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has been on the rise. It is the fifth most common type of cancer diagnosed in the United States, with an estimated 300,000 Americans currently living with the disease. Radio-Immunotherapy Holds Promise for Patients with Lymphoma "I'm sorry, Mrs. Wolter, but your cancer is back." Charlotte Wolter had heard this before. The Glencoe, Minn., resident had endured seven months of chemotherapy. And now, after participating in a clinical trial she had hoped would put her cancer into remission, she was hearing the words again. For Wolter and many other patients battling B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, chemotherapy and radiation often result in tumors shrinking but recurring in the same or other locations. At the same time, there is no cure for the disease. These patients brave difficult treatment regimens, endure a host of side effects, yet still fail to hear those magic words: you're cancer-free. But now a new drug, known as Zevalin, is giving hope to patients who no longer respond to other treatment options. For patients like Wolter, Zevalin appears to be a wish come true. View Related The first radiation therapy and respiratory care baccalaureate classes of Mayo School of Health Sciences and the University of Minnesota will be conferred on Friday, May 12, 2006, at Mayo Clinic. View Related  Medical Edge Television Imagine being diagnosed with a disease so rare that some doctors don't even know it exists. Read Script  Mayo Clinic researchers have shown that a subset of T-cells found in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients inhibits the normal immune response to the cancer. "Treg cells normally control the immune response process, ensuring that the body doesn't fight against itself," says Stephen Ansell, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic hematology researcher. "This study has shown that there is more to the story for NHL patients, and that the most common Treg cell, which is positive for the cell surface markers CD4 and CD25, actually contributes to disease progression by suppressing a healthy immune response to cancer cells View Abstract Now that this signal has been identified, new strategies can be generated for enhancing the ability of the immune system to kill tumor cells in patients with cancer. "Because NK cells can communicate different messages -- one that serves health by clearing tumors and viruses and one that serves disease by blocking the response to cancer -- understanding which signals result in effective tumor clearance is a high priority for those of us fighting cancer," explains Paul Leibson, M.D., Ph.D., the Mayo Clinic immunologist and pediatrician who led the study. View Abstract Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered clues about new molecular partnerships involving a key protein that naturally guards against cancer because it promotes repair of damaged DNA. Research shows that loss of p53 is directly related to cancer. People born without enough p53 function get spontaneous cancers. In about half of all cancers, the two genes that give the instructions for making p53 (each person gets one gene from each parent) are missing or shut off. This suggests that loss of p53 function is a common event in the origin of many different kinds of cancer. Therefore, an appealing research strategy is to devise ways to restore or protect p53 function. Discovering all the ways p53 gets turned on is an important first step toward doing that. View Abstract Mayo Clinic researchers have uncovered a new cellular secret that may explain how certain cancers move and spread -- a feature of cancers that makes treatment especially difficult. "These findings have broad implications toward the general understanding of how specific processes in the wave may affect such things as cell growth, cell movement and metastasis," explains Mark McNiven, Ph.D., the lead researcher on the Mayo Clinic team. "Our work provides new insights into a novel mechanism by which cells can internalize growth factor information. Understanding this process is the first step toward one day halting it, preventing it or reversing it therapeutically." View Related  Researchers have determined that the occurrence rate for monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) -- a known precursor condition for multiple myeloma and other related blood disorders -- is nearly twice as high as what has been reported. Mayo Clinic's study results are available in The New England Journal of Medicine. View Abstract  Treating rare cancer with high-dose chemotherapy and stem-cell transplant "Whether any of the POEMS patients we've treated with a stem cell transplant will be cured or not is still unknown," says Colon-Otero, "but most of the patients who have received the transplant have improved dramatically." The Mayo Clinic POEMS transplant experience -- the largest published series in the world -- was led by Mayo physicians Angela Dispenzieri and Alvaro Moreno-Aspitia. Though treatment for POEMS is not standardized, Mayo Clinic physicians advise that high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation should be considered a therapeutic option for patients with POEMS. This therapy is not for all patients as it is dependent on their symptoms. View Related  Mayo Clinic broke ground this morning for a new building to house advanced imaging research. Mayo received a gift of $7 million from The Opus Group to support construction of the facility. "Much of medicine in the future will depend heavily on noninvasive imaging techniques," says Denis Cortese, M.D., CEO of Mayo Clinic. "We are grateful for this generous gift from Opus, which will help us expand both our diagnostic and treatment capabilities through the findings of this research. Applying basic science research findings to patient care is what we do best, and we look for this activity to keep Mayo Clinic on the cutting edge of imaging." View Related  Mayo Clinic’s Molecular Medicine Program has three gene therapy clinical trials open in which the entire preclinical cycle—concept, discovery of agent, vector manufacture, toxicology and efficacy studies, and new drug application—was conducted at Mayo The projects engineered strains of the measles virus, MV-CEA and MV-NIS, which kill multiple cancer cells, and can be monitored easily. The open trials are in ovarian cancer, glioblastoma multiforme (brain cancer), and multiple myeloma. This article discusses the general research and the first trial which opened -- ovarian cancer. The projects are a fine example of a clear translational effort from bedside to bench and back to the bedside. View Related In terms of a medical diagnosis, nothing is more devastating than hearing the "C" word - cancer. But now, ASU and Mayo Clinic are hoping that five different C's will become the best arsenal against the big C. The organizations have teamed up to introduce a new research entity called MAC5. MAC5 is short for the Mayo Clinic - ASU Center for Cancer-related Convergence, Cooperation and Collaboration. View Related  Medical Edge Television He's a world-class martial arts champion. But his strength could not fend off a deadly cancer. A cancer that causes debilitating pain. It took some intense detective work by doctors at Mayo Clinic to make the diagnosis and find a treatment that would keep this athlete alive. Read Script  Mayo Clinic study shows the combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin appears to be effective for MM when traditional treatments have failed, is in the January 2006 issue of Cancer. The National Cancer Institute reports a 2.4 percent increase in the incidence of melanoma between 1992 and 2002. New cases are diagnosed in about 60,000 people each year in the United States, and almost 8,000 die because of metastasized melanoma. Because they know that most therapies provide palliative as opposed to curative options, researchers at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center consider developing more effective curative treatment options to be a priority. View Related         |