Mayo Clinic Research in Jacksonville

Cancer Basic Science Research

Many people believe their risk of developing cancer is predetermined, but that isn’t the case. Mayo Clinic cancer basic science researchers are discovering increasing evidence to support an empowering truth: We can all take steps to prevent or reduce our risk of developing cancer.

One leading risk factor is a diet high in saturated animal fats. Our researchers have identified how a fat commonly found in fish oils, omega-3 fatty acid, can prevent colon cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. They identified a gene that is activated in colon cancer and showed that it can cause colon cancer in mice. The scientists then used the mice to develop drugs that target the gene. Early trials are now starting in people.

We also are searching for gene targets for cancer therapies and are zeroing in on genes that are active in kidney cancer. Many genes and in different combinations change their expression to cause cancer. Using powerful computers and a technique called genetic fingerprinting, our scientists are measuring the activity of 32,000 genes at once in kidney cancer. This will be useful not only for kidney cancer but could help physicians design more invidualized cancer treatments in the future. Armed with a genetic profile of a patient’s cancer, which can be obtained from a small tissue sample, physicians can better determine the disease’s sensitivity to certain drugs and design treatments accordingly.

One obstacle to effective cancer treatments is that few therapies are effective once the cancer metastasizes, or spreads from the local tumor to other areas of the body. Our scientists are trying to change that by analyzing metastasis and determining targets that might slow or stop the process.

This work is being done in the labs of the Griffin Cancer Research Building, which opened in 2003.

Research Labs

• Fields, P. Alan Ph.D.
  Signaling Mechanisms in Carcinogenesis
• Thompson, E. Aubrey, Ph.D.
  Hormones and Cancer
• Murray, Nicole R., Ph.D.
  Cell and Molecular Biology of Carcinogenesis
• Anastasiadis, Panagiotis Z., Ph.D.
  Cell Adhesion and Metastasis
• Copland, John A. Ph.D.
  Cancer Cell Biology and Oncogenomics
• Radisky, Derek C., Ph.D.
  Tumor Microenvironment
• Radisky, Evette S., Ph.D.
  Proteinases in Cancer
• Storz, Peter , Ph.D.
  Oxidative Stress in Tumor Progression & Age-Related Diseases