Robert B. Diasio, M.D.

Director

200 First Street, S.W.

Rochester, Minnesota 55905

Tel: (507) 266-4997

Fax: (507) 538-6290

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center is an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. It was one of the first cancer centers to receive the NCI designation in 1971.  In addition to the main campus in

Minnesota, there are Mayo campuses in Jacksonville, Florida and Phoenix, Arizona.

Mayo’s 450 physicians and scientists collaborate across the spectrum of cancer research – including basic, translational, clinical and population sciences – seeking to find ways to lessen the burden of cancer. Mayo’s philosophy of patient care is that medicine is best practiced as a cooperative science with clinicians, specialists, and researchers working as a team.  The 20,000 new patients seen at Mayo every year receive coordinated care from experts in all medical disciplines.

Mayo has formed collaborative teams across the three campuses, dedicated to: understanding the biology of cancer; discovering new ways to predict, prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer; and transforming the quality of life for cancer patients today and in the future. Mayo emphasizes the translation of knowledge gained from cancer research into effective therapies for patients.

The Mayo Cancer Center has 11 major cancer research programs: cell biology, immunology and immunotherapy, developmental therapeutics, gene and virus therapy, hematologic malignancies, neuro-oncology, prostate cancer, women’s cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, genetic epidemiology and risk assessment, and cancer prevention and control.

Mayo’s emphasis on collaboration has led to as many as 100 partnerships in recent years with scientists at institutions across the country, including investigators at NCI and at two dozen NCI-designated cancer centers. Mayo also maintains close partnerships with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix and the University of Minnesota.

There are approximately 900 cancer-related clinical trials available at Mayo, including studies administered through the Mayo-based North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG), as well as the newly formed Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology cooperative group, comprised of NCCTG, the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group, and Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB).

These cooperative groups enable Mayo to recruit patients to clinical trials being conducted across the world.  Their researchers are also committed to better understand and address health disparities. To that end, Mayo has developed relationships with underserved populations, including American Indians, Alaska Natives, African Americans, and Hispanics.

Mayo also focuses on comprehensive education and support for cancer patients and their caregivers. Its cancer education resource center serves nearly 35,000 visitors annually.

Why choose Mayo Clinic for prostate cancer

• Experience and teamwork. At Mayo Clinic, an expert team of urologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and other specialists, if needed, work together to provide the best care possible. Mayo Clinic specialists treat several thousand men with prostate cancer each year.
• Full range of treatments available. Mayo Clinic offers a complete range of prostate cancer treatments, including watchful waiting, sometimes called active surveillance; radiation therapy, including intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and brachytherapy; hormone therapy; surgery to remove the prostate (prostatectomy); cryosurgery; high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU); and chemotherapy.
• Latest diagnostic and treatment options. Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is currently the only medical center in North America approved by the Food and Drug Administration to prepare and administer Choline C-11 PET scan to help detect sites of prostate cancer that have returned despite treatment (recurrent prostate cancer). Choline C-11 PET scan may be used when other imaging has not been helpful. Choline C-11 PET scan is a positron emission tomography (PET) scan that uses a special chemical tracer called Choline C-11 Injection. Choline C-11 PET scan may help doctors detect possible sites of recurrent prostate cancer that more conventional imaging tests can’t identify. Locating recurrent prostate cancer sooner may allow your doctor to identify small, isolated deposits of cancer — both inside and outside your prostate — that can be targeted for more-effective treatment.

  Mayo Clinic is a pioneer in radical prostatectomy and in the use of robotic prostatectomy, making significant advances to the technology and techniques used in this minimally invasive treatment procedure. The robotic system allows smaller and more-precise incisions that promote faster recovery than traditional open or laparoscopic surgery does.

• Latest research. Researchers at Mayo Clinic investigate many issues related to prostate cancer, such as long-term outcomes following surgery. For decades, Mayo Clinic has been compiling a database, believed to be the largest of its kind, which includes records from men who have had prostate cancer surgery. This information can help doctors determine the most effective treatment for each person.
• Comprehensive cancer center. Mayo Clinic Cancer Centermeets strict standards for a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer center, which recognizes scientific excellence and a multispecialty approach focused on cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

*Source: National Cancer Institute