Cancer

When Joanina Gicobi, Ph.D., began her degree five years ago at Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, she was interested in thinking creatively about ways to improve cancer treatment. In particular, she was curious about the body's natural ability to fight tumors: Could that process be improved?  

Paula Quinn didn’t know if she would ever ride horses again after treatment for her aggressive cancer damaged her heart and eventually caused her to require a transplant. But beautiful, magnificent creatures were an irresistible draw.

Lionel Kankeu Fonkoua, M.D., is an oncologist with Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center who specializes in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers. He is leading a clinical trial focused on the immigrant African and Asian communities of Minnesota with a high prevalence of one type of liver cancer.

Judy Ethen lost her father and brother to pancreatic cancer. Her own case was diagnosed and treated early through Mayo Clinic’s High-Risk Pancreas Clinic, made possible by a generous gift of $22.1 million.

In an old family farmhouse outside small Delavan, Minnesota, Mike Hoffman is getting to know his mom a bit better. She died nearly 40 years ago, but through a stack of yellowed letters, Mike and his wife, Tami, are delving into a part of her life that they didn't previously know much about -- her life built upon her nursing studies at Mayo Clinic.

Dawn Botsford was sitting in a chair at the hair salon in the fall of 2011 when her hairdresser commented on a spot on the top of her head. It was bug season in North Dakota, so Dawn didn’t think much of it. “When I told my hairdresser that, she said, ‘I really think you need to get it checked out.’ She saved my life,” Dawn recalls.

When Michael Sullivan was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, he received help at Mayo Clinic. To spread hope to others, Michael and his well-connected community raised nearly $500,000 for cancer research.

Thomas Grainger understands there is no end to medical discovery. That's why he and his wife Elizabeth put their trust in Mayo Clinic to find meaningful answers today – and far into the future.

Cheryl L. Willman, M.D., director of Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, discusses her early vision, engagement with communities and the vital role patients play in advancing cancer care for all.

Ann Arneson describes her journey to Mayo Clinic as “divine design.” Ann — a retired teacher, a leader in her church and ministry, mother, grandmother, and line dance enthusiast — is Mayo Clinic’s first bone marrow transplant patient to recover at home thanks to the new advanced care at home program.