Casino exec leading drive for Vegas cancer center

David Strow and Emily Richmond

Monday, March 18, 2002 | 10:57 a.m.

A top Las Vegas casino executive is spearheading a charge to establish a world-class cancer treatment and research center in the Las Vegas Valley.

Jim Murren, president and chief financial officer of casino giant MGM MIRAGE, believes such a center could have a "profoundly positive impact on the community." To get the effort off the ground, Murren recently donated the first seed money, using funds from his recent sale of MGM MIRAGE stock.

Murren declined to say how much he donated to the effort or how much he was hoping to raise in the coming months.

If all goes well and support can be built for the center within the community, Murren said it's possible a center could open within three years.

"There's universal agreement that it's just not right for people to have to get on a plane or drive to California or Arizona (for treatment) when they get sick," Murren said. "There's certainly a big need for this here, because of our demographics."

The goal, he said, is to build a center that wins recognition from the National Institutes of Health.

"That's the holy grail ... if you get that designation, you get federal funding," Murren said.

For Murren, the fight against cancer is a personal one. The disease claimed his father at age 59, and his family has a history of cancer. Murren's brother, Dr. John Murren, is a research oncologist at the Yale University Cancer Center.

"Everyone has their own thing. This is my thing," Murren said. "I'm going to put money into this program, and I'm going to take it to its conclusion."

Murren said he began discussing the idea with local business leaders about a year ago, including the late Dr. Elias Ghanem, attorney Frank Schreck, casino developer Steve Wynn and even former President Bill Clinton.

It's possible Clinton could get involved in the effort, Murren said. The issue is a personal one for the former president as well, as Ghanem was the physician of Virginia Kelley, Clinton's late mother.

"(Clinton) says he'll lend his support if we can get this off the ground," Murren said.

Dr. John Ellerton, chief of staff of University Medical Center and a principal investigator at the Southern Nevada Cancer Research Foundation, said he was interested in hearing more about Murren's proposal. Murren's brother visited Southern Nevada last year to discuss possible partnerships between Yale and the research foundation, Ellerton said.

Ellerton said he hoped Murren would meet with the physicians and specialists already caring for cancer patients in the Las Vegas Valley and consider their input. Most of the oncologists in the area are affiliated with the research foundation, which receives nearly all of its funding from the National Cancer Institute, Ellerton said.

"We've spent 20 years building this place up, and it has become a doorway to a participation in national clinical trials and relationships with places like Sloan-Kettering," Ellerton said. "What we don't have, and could certainly use, is more facilities and labs for basic research."

Building a new cancer center doesn't guarantee that patients won't leave the state for treatment, either to be closer to family or in search of an experimental drug therapy, Ellerton said.

Murren said he's discussed the idea with UNLV President Carol Harter and has had talks with officials from the University of Nevada, Reno as well. He said he hopes the center could become affiliated with UNLV in some fashion.

Murren plans to hold an April 5 meeting with business leaders, legislators and academic officials to launch his effort, and said he'll start formal fund-raising efforts at that time.

"I'm going to go everywhere I can go and talk to everyone I can for this, because I think this would have a profoundly positive impact on the community," Murren said. "Everyone would agree you can't have enough (treatment) options when it relates to a disease like cancer."