Cancer patients in Florida are about to get access to treatment technology that doesn't exist anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere.
Governor Ron DeSantis made history with this one announcement.
And Ron DeSantis just delivered one announcement that has cancer researchers around the world taking notice.
DeSantis Brings World's Most Advanced Cancer Treatment to Florida
Ron DeSantis announced Mayo Clinic Jacksonville launched the nation's first carbon ion therapy program.
And it's the only one in the entire Western Hemisphere.
DeSantis stood with First Lady Casey DeSantis and Mayo Clinic CEO Dr. Kent Thielen to flip the switch on technology that's been saving lives in Japan and Europe for decades but never existed on this side of the planet until now.
"Mayo Clinic is now launching the technology for the first carbon ion therapy program anywhere in the United States of America," DeSantis said. "And in fact, it'll be the only carbon ion therapy program in the entire Western Hemisphere."
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2011921430229946807?s=20
Carbon ion therapy hits cancers that laugh at traditional radiation.
The stuff that keeps coming back no matter what doctors throw at it.
Studies from Japan show five-year local control rates hitting 88% for treatment-resistant cancers like chordoma.
Regular radiation can't touch those numbers.
The particles are 12 times heavier than protons and deliver three times the biological punch.
Cancer cells that shrug off standard treatment get obliterated by carbon ions accelerated to near light speed.
Mayo Clinic's new 228,000-square-foot Duan Family Building houses six treatment rooms.
Three for photon therapy that's already operating.
Two for proton therapy launching in 2027.
And one carbon ion chamber that'll make history in 2028 when the FDA gives final approval.
That sixth room took 4,000 cement truckloads to build walls thick enough to contain the radiation.
The carbon ion machine sits on the second floor, unlike most facilities that bury this equipment underground.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2011850319915798898?s=20
Florida Became National Leader in Cancer Innovation Under DeSantis
DeSantis poured $30 million of state money into this specific carbon ion initiative.
Florida invested over $1 billion in cancer research and treatment since DeSantis took office in 2019.
That's a 114% funding increase over what existed before.
The 2025 budget alone committed $218 million to fighting cancer.
The Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program drove most of these investments after the First Lady beat breast cancer in 2022.
She knows firsthand what radiation treatment costs patients beyond killing the cancer.
"I would never say that it was a good thing that I got sick, but I will say, I am just so humbled to have had a very, very small part in seeing something so historic happen," Casey DeSantis said at the announcement.
https://twitter.com/CaseyDeSantis/status/2011858905685770737?s=20
Her left arm still doesn't work like her right from the radiation damage.
Mayo Clinic received close to $100 million from Florida during DeSantis' time as Governor.
The facility opened in June 2025 and already offers photon therapy, immunotherapy, CAR-T cell therapy, and advanced imaging.
Carbon ion therapy works on cancers in sensitive areas where regular radiation causes too much collateral damage.
Brain tumors near critical structures.
Pediatric cancers where protecting growing tissue matters.
Tumors that wrap around vital organs.
The precision lets doctors blast the cancer with lethal doses while sparing everything around it.
Patients in Japan with pancreatic cancer saw 92% local control at one year and 83% at two years with carbon ion therapy.
Compare that to conventional radiation where most pancreatic cancer patients die within a year of diagnosis.
The dual capability machine at Mayo Clinic can deliver both carbon ions and protons to the same tumor in the same session.
Doctors can use protons on the outer edges where precision matters most and carbon ions on the resistant core.
That flexibility doesn't exist at any other facility in the world.
DeSantis positioned Florida as the destination for cutting-edge cancer treatment.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2011882435785675241?s=20
Patients from across the Americas will fly to Jacksonville for access to therapy they can't get anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere.
The economic impact goes beyond medicine.
Medical tourism brings families who spend money on hotels, restaurants, and everything else while patients undergo treatment.
Top cancer researchers want to work where the best technology exists.
Florida just became that place.
While other governors talk about improving healthcare, DeSantis invested over a billion dollars and brought technology to America that didn't exist here before.
Casey DeSantis' battle with cancer drove policy that'll save thousands of lives.
That's leadership that delivers results.
Sources:
- Elizabeth Borodulin, "Governor Ron DeSantis announces Mayo Clinic Jacksonville will launch Carbon Ion Therapy program," The Florida Channel, January 15, 2026.
- A.G. Gancarski, "Ron, Casey DeSantis herald groundbreaking carbon-ion therapy investment at Jacksonville's Mayo Clinic," Florida Politics, January 15, 2026.
- "Governor Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis Announces Mayo Clinic Jacksonville Will Launch Only Carbon Ion Therapy Program in the Western Hemisphere," Florida Governor's Office, January 15, 2026.
- Malcolm Harvey, "DeSantis announces new form of radiation treatment for cancer patients at Mayo Clinic," First Coast News, January 15, 2026.
- "Mayo Clinic takes the next step in making heavy particle therapy available in the Americas for patients with aggressive cancers," Mayo Clinic News Network, June 12, 2025.
- "A Review of Update Clinical Results of Carbon Ion Radiotherapy," National Institutes of Health, August 1, 2012.
