Oncology Research Lab & Tumor Bank
Improving care for patients with cancer requires research into the molecular mechanisms of cancer cells. To investigate these mechanisms, Legacy has established a basic science, laboratory-based oncology research program.
In 2006, the then Clinical Vice President of Research, Dr. Tony Melaragno, advanced an initiative to establish the lab and a tumor bank. Start-up funding was provided by the Good Samaritan Foundation, and Dr. Katherine Morris, a Sloan Kettering trained surgical oncologist in clinical practice, was appointed Medical Director.
The lab is focusing its attention on the complex mechanisms of angiogenesis and apoptosis as they apply to malignancy utilizing a multi-disciplinary approach. Collaborations have been established with scientists in the R.S. Dow Neurobiology Labs.
Legacy Tumor Bank
The Legacy Tumor Bank stores human tissue samples obtained from cancer patients in an ethical and scientifically optimal manner to allow the tissue to be used in research studies aimed at finding a cure for cancer. In April 2006, the Tumor Bank received its first donation, a colon cancer. It has since received more than 400 tissue donations, with one third of the donations being breast cancer tissue.
Our scientists are using the samples to obtain promising data on the function of certain immune cells in new tumor blood vessel growth and on ways that cancer cells may escape normal cell death. Our patients recognize the importance of this work. One donor said it best: "The disease that this breast is experiencing is an opportunity for a part of me to have a connection with helping you find treatment and/or a cure for breast cancer. My most heartfelt wish is that no other woman must face the loss of a breast due to cancer."
Scientist Profiles
Katherine Morris, MD, Medical Director
For more information
Katherine Morris, M.D.
Medical Director
Legacy Clinical Research and Technology Center
1225 NE 2nd Avenue
Portland, OR 97232
Telephone: 503-413-5409
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