Cancer > The Next Era in Cancer Medicine

The Next Era in Cancer Medicine

By Mayo Clinic Photography by Paul Najlis

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 six exciting advances on the horizon in cancer medicine.

REDEFINING THE FUTURE OF LUNG CANCER

Rather than relying on screening alone, Mayo Clinic researchers are building advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools to transform how we detect and treat lung cancer. Beginning with patients who have early-stage, biopsy-confirmed disease, the team connects their diagnosis with high-quality imaging, pathology, molecular data and long-term outcomes.

By learning from confirmed cases, these tools can recognize patterns that signal which cancers are most aggressive and who is at greatest risk. This approach does more than improve detection. It reveals new opportunities to intervene sooner and guides the development of innovative therapies. Together, these efforts aim to improve survival, personalize care and change the trajectory of lung cancer for patients and their families.

ENHANCING AI ACCURACY IN RADIATION ONCOLOGY

A team of Mayo Clinic investigators developed a new way to improve AI for identifying head and neck tumors.

While AI can automatically outline tumors on PET and CT scans, it sometimes marks areas that are not truly cancer. To address this, the research team paired imaging AI with a large language model that reads and interprets radiologists’ reports. This model extracts tumor locations from the written diagnosis and crosschecks them against the AI-generated outlines.

When the system detects a mismatch, it removes the incorrect outline. This approach significantly improves accuracy and eliminates false-positive tumor markings. By combining advanced image analysis with expert clinical interpretation, the team is building a smarter, safer tool that supports more consistent cancer treatment planning.

REVEALING HIDDEN DRIVERS OF PEDIATRIC LEUKEMIA

Mayo Clinic researchers are uncovering new molecular mechanisms that drive leukemia, opening the door to more precise and effective therapies. Their work focuses on how a missing control protein, called HEB, allows a cancer-driving gene known as MYC to become overactive.

When this control is lost, a section of DNA switches into overdrive, turning on MYC and fueling leukemia. Researchers identified another protein, TCF-1, that plays a critical role in this process. When TCF-1 is blocked, leukemia cells are unable to form, making it a promising new target for therapy. The team also discovered that leukemia cells produce unique RNA signals not found in healthy cells.

Because these signals appear only in cancer, they may offer a powerful new way to target leukemia while sparing normal tissue. Ongoing studies are exploring how shutting down these signals could stop leukemia at its source.

REDUCING SIDE EFFECTS FOR NEW THERAPIES

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.

IMPROVING SURGICAL PRECISION

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.”

BRINGING CARBON ION THERAPY TO NORTH AMERICA

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.