Mayo Clinic clinicians, researchers and staff pursue innovative research and improve care because patients still have unmet needs. Every day, teams across the organization work to discover the next cures, create the newest surgical tools and deliver the best treatments.
Keep reading for three exciting advances on the horizon in cancer medicine.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors are widely used cancer treatments, but about 55% of patients experience serious side effects. Mayo Clinic researchers are studying how specific subtypes of T cells — immune cells that can mistakenly attack healthy parts of the body while targeting cancer cells — contribute to these side effects. Understanding the connection between T cells and side effects could lead to new tools to better predict and reduce side effects, improving patient experiences and outcomes.
Mayo Clinic is partnering with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to develop new precision tools to help surgeons perform procedures more accurately, with real-time assessments for surgical decision-making in lung cancer care. The Advanced Research Funding Agency for Health awarded the project a contract for up to $33 million to create “scalable, affordable and easily implementable surgical technology that will transform healthcare.”
The Duan Family Building opened on our Florida campus in 2025, and by 2028, Mayo Clinic will provide conventional radiation therapy, proton beam therapy and carbon ion therapy in the space.
Carbon ion therapy has unprecedented potential to help patients whose cancer resists other forms of radiotherapy, but currently it is only available at 15 facilities in Asia and Europe. Mayo Clinic will be the first to offer this transformative treatment in North America.
Learn more about Mayo Clinic's vision for transforming cancer care.
Throughout John’s cancer journey, he held onto one vision: getting back on the croquet court.
Learn how Mayo Clinic is leading the transformation of cancer research and care.
