If only people knew what the Nevada Cancer Institute does

Her statement seemed flat-out unbelievable. “A lot of people don’t know we exist and don’t know what we do,” said Heather Murren, chairwoman of the board of Nevada Cancer Institute.

How could that be? I see and hear advertising about the institute. I read news and feature stories about it.

Who doesn’t know what the institute does? Who doesn’t know that it’s a combination cancer research and treatment center? Who doesn’t know that Murren co-founded it in 2002 with her late brother-in-law, Dr. John Murren? Who doesn’t know about the imposing building at One Breakthrough Way, near the 215 beltway and Hualapai Way, which opened in September 2005?

So I started asking around.

Murren was right.

Some think it’s purely research. Some think it’s purely treatment. Actually, it’s a combination of both.

In April, the institute is ramping up its advertising, moving from feeling good to explaining more.

The little ballerina in the desert in a sunflower costume will be dancing off to be replaced by non-dancing doctors from the institute explaining what the institute does.

I’m an example of misconceptions about the institute. I thought you had to be referred by a doctor. So I wondered why the need for so much general advertising. When I saw the million-dollar-plus advertising cost in the Internal Revenue Service 990 form, I thought heavy advertising was a waste of money for the non-profit.

But I was wrong.

Anyone can go there, although most would want their insurer’s approval. Getting the institute’s name out there to the general public and not just oncologists suddenly made sense.

I always thought it was more a research facility and less of a treatment facility, until I saw the chemo room on Thursday. It was the nicest chemo room I’d ever seen. And I’ve seen a few, sitting with friends and family. At the institute, every chemo treatment chair has a comfortable companion chair and the room has floor-to-ceiling windows looking toward the Las Vegas Strip.

Heather Murren’s story has been told often. How the stock analyst moved to Las Vegas in August 1998 after her husband, Jim, took a job with MGM Mirage — today he’s the president and chief operating officer. “We thought about schools, not about health care,” said the mother of two sons.

Quickly, she learned people who can afford it leave the state for cancer treatments. She, her husband and his brother in 2000 began talking with others about Nevada’s cancer care needs. Murren quit her stock analyst’s job with Merrill Lynch in 2002 to focus on creating the institute.

She thought big. Treat patients, do research, perform clinical studies, and provide education and support.

What’s her dream for the fledging institute? “We want to be M.D. Anderson,” she said, naming the cancer center in Houston considered tops in cancer care.

Obviously, Murren aims high. She gets there by being persuasive, but not overbearing, fighting for a cause that seems to touch every family eventually.

The institute’s tax returns show that 84 percent of the money goes to the cancer cause, well above the 60 percent level considered standard for a charity to be fiscally responsible.

What can you find at the institute?

• Information center open to the public.

• Wig room.

• Room for prosthetic fittings.

• Yoga classes.

• Meditation room.

• High-tech machines I hope never to need.

So far, 4,300 patients have been treated in this setting.

But it’s the labs where the work is going on that could help more than individual patients. That’s where Dr. Yupo Ma is working on better diagnosis of cancers of the blood, where Dr. Nam Hoang Dang has a clinical trial to test a drug with potential for curing certain cancers, where Dr. David Ward is making progress with early detection of ovarian cancer.

Heather Murren gave up her role of chief executive officer of the institute in January but is still chairman of the board. “I don’t foresee ever leaving 100 percent,” said the 42-year-old. This may be her brainchild, but it’s not her empire. Others are in place to keep it moving forward. With a goal of becoming like M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, it’s clearly a team effort.

If only people knew exactly what the Nevada Cancer Institute actually does.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275.