Thursday, Dec. 29, 2005 | 8:06 a.m.
Dr. John Murren
When MGM Mirage executive Jim Murren and his wife, Heather, decided to develop a ground-breaking cancer treatment and research center in Las Vegas, they did so in part because of Jim's older brother, Dr. John Murren.
A renowned Yale University oncologist and cancer researcher, John Murren specialized in studying the effectiveness of cancer drug therapies and advancing the use of new treatments, said Jim Murren, president and chief financial officer for MGM Mirage.
Jim Murren said his brother held the vision behind the Nevada Cancer Institute.
"... It was John, and solely John, who was the inspiration and really the genesis of the Nevada Cancer Institute," he said. "It was John that encouraged the titans of the cancer world to come to Las Vegas because they knew and admired and respected him."
Dr. John Murren, 47, died Wednesday morning at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., after losing his own battle with melanoma.
The Murren brothers lost their father, Connecticut state Rep. John Henry Murren, to melanoma, a rare but more deadly form of skin cancer, in 1990 at age 59.
Spurred by a personal desire to defeat the disease and guided by John's vision and expertise, the Murrens founded the Nevada Cancer Institute in 2002 and opened the 142,000-square-foot treatment and research facility in Summerlin in September.
John Murren served on the institute's board and was an adjunct faculty member, helping to recruit many of the researchers the Murrens hired for the institute, said Dr. Giuseppe Pizzorno, vice president for research and drug development at the institute.
"Jim and Heather Murren were the capitalists for this project, but the idea ... was definitely John's," said Pizzorno, who was recruited from Yale by John. "His fingerprints are all over the institute."
The trio's vision was to bring innovative, research-based care to Nevada and to unite the state's efforts to treat cancer to lower cancer fatality rates.
The Murrens also founded the institute, at 10441 W. Twain Ave., so Southern Nevadans would not have to travel out of state for cancer treatment. The institute specializes in prostate, breast, gastrointestinal and lung cancers as well as leukemia.
John Murren specialized in the treatment and prevention of lung cancer. He was chief of the Yale Medical Oncology Outpatient Clinic, director of the Lung Cancer unit at Yale Cancer Center and had one of the largest practices at Yale, treating thousands of patients each year.
Because of his influence, the Nevada Cancer Institute is already involved in more than 30 clinical trials this year that will include about 150 patients.
John was rediagnosed with melanoma right before Thanksgiving, Jim Murren said. He had initially battled and defeated the cancer seven years ago.
Jim Murren said his brother's loss will encourage he and his wife to redouble their efforts at the Nevada Cancer Institute.
"Cancer only took out my brother because he was too damn good," Murren said. "This is a battle. He was winning the war, and they took him off the field. But there are plenty of Murrens behind him."
Christina Littlefield can be reached at 259-8813 or at [email protected].
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