Mayo Clinic’s Jacksonville campus will become the first in the United States — and the only one in the Western Hemisphere — to offer carbon ion therapy, a cutting-edge treatment for hard-to-treat cancers, officials announced Thursday.
At a news conference, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis joined Mayo Clinic President and CEO Dr. Kent Thielen to unveil the advanced program, which is expected to begin treating patients in 2028.
The announcement builds on Mayo Clinic’s expansion of cancer care in Jacksonville with the opening of the 228,000-square-foot Duan Family Building in June 2025, designed to house both proton and carbon ion therapy technology. Proton therapy — another advanced form of radiation treatment — is expected to begin in 2027.
First Lady Casey DeSantis, a breast cancer survivor, highlighted the impact of state support for innovative treatments and research, saying the new therapy will offer hope to patients “nowhere else in the Western Hemisphere.”
In the meantime, Mayo Clinic patients will have access to a range of services at the Jacksonville facility, including photon therapy, immunotherapy, CAR-T cell therapy, and advanced imaging, officials said.
