THE name of anti-tobacco litigant Rolah McCabe, who died from lung cancer, will live on in a unique new Melbourne legal centre that will explore using the law as an instrument to fight all cancers.

The McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer will employ up to six lawyers and has backing from the Cancer Council of Victoria, where it will be based.

Rolah McCabe. Credit:Viki Lascaris

It has been funded partly though personal donations from the family of the late Mrs McCabe and her solicitors, including leading plaintiff lawyer Peter Gordon.

Mr Gordon, who played a key role in initiating Mrs McCabe's fight against British American Tobacco, said it was important not to cede the law in this area to well-funded corporations.