Beth Nakamura | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Dr. Gordon Mills is the director of precision oncology at the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health & Science University. He says he was drawn to the Portland facility's determination "to be better rather than to simply hold the fort."

Steve Duin | For The Oregonian/OregonLive

Vendetta? A powerful word, that. It speaks to oaths and family dramas, intensively personal, that endure for generations.

And it well describes the history and purpose that have finally brought Dr. Gordon Mills to the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute.

"I am part of what is called a 'cancer family undesignated,'" Mills says. "Every single person in my family, but one, for three generations died of or with cancer."

His mother? Carcinoma. His father? Lung cancer. His grandfather succumbed to bladder cancer, his 38-year-old cousin to renal cell carcinoma, his uncle to yet another merciless swipe of the disease.

"Either it's an incredible coincidence," Mills says, "or there is a set of genetic abnormalities that we haven't figured out yet."

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Kristyna Wentz-Graff | Oregon Health & Science University

It took OHSU five years to lure Dr. Gordon Mills from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, one of the country's biggest cancer centers.





Mills, 64, doesn't believe in coincidence. After 40 years of dedicated cancer research, he's uncomfortable with doubt. What he can't figure out, or abide, keeps him up at night.



The damage cancer has done to his clan?



"It certainly is a driver that gets you up in the morning," he says, "and reminds you why you are going to work."



For the past 24 years, Mills worked at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He ascended to the most prominent endowed position in the University of Texas system. He managed that center's breast cancer Moon Shot program, an aggressive campaign to battle the subtype known as triple-negative breast cancer.



"I would be embarrassed for people to know what I had at MD Anderson," Mills says. "A four-tower complex, which I ran. I had two full floors, an office suite, twelve administrative staff. I had everything the world would ever want."



In his small, as-yet-undecorated office on the shoulder of Interstate 5, Mills pauses, to good effect.



"Obviously," he adds, "there must be good reason why I came here."



To Portland's South Waterfront and the Knight Cancer Research Building. To the Wayne and Julie Drinkward Endowed Chair in Precision Oncology. To those intimate views of the Marquam Bridge on-ramps.



"There is nothing to distract you," Mills reasons.

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Beth Nakamura | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Dr. Gordon Mills holds more than 20 patents in novel technologies and molecular biomarkers, and has authored more than 900 research papers.

From that cruel family history, or all the work that remains. From 2011 to 2015, the incidence of breast cancer in Oregon dropped 5 percent annually. But the National Institutes of Health estimates there will be 266,000 new cases nationally in 2018, and nearly 41,000 deaths.

Born in Alberta, Mills developed an early fascination with biochemistry, gravitating toward obstetrics and gynecology while forging through med school and securing his Ph.D.

Race for the Cure 2018: Calendar of Portland-area events

He had a natural zest for research: "I realized that by doing research and teaching people how to do things, I could help more patients than sitting across from them one-on-one.

"My joy and goal in research became understanding what was happening in ovarian cancer that we could use in targets (targeted treatment) to understand what was happening in breast cancer."

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Kristyna Wentz-Graff | Oregon Health & Science University

Wayne and Julie Drinkward (left) established the endowed chair in precision oncology at the Knight Cancer Institute. The recipient, Dr. Gordon Mills, is among the most highly cited medical scientists in the world.





As Oregon Health & Science University noted in Mills' hiring announcements, he holds more than 20 patents in novel technologies and molecular biomarkers. He has authored 900-plus research papers, and the Susan B. Komen organization extended him the 2013 Brinker Award for "advancing our understanding of the key processes that drive breast cancer's initiation, progression and response to therapy."



He has witnessed dramatic changes in the evolution of cancer treatment and outcomes, Mills says. Choriocarcinoma, which starts in the uterus, once had a 100 percent death rate: "Now, if someone dies, we do an investigation into what we did wrong."



Melanoma? "Ten years ago, melanoma was called the disease where drugs went to die. Now, we have multiple approved drugs and massively improved outcomes."

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Beth Nakamura | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Dr. Gordon Mills' research has focused on the genetics of breast and ovarian cancers and on identifying genes involved in tumor suppression.

But in recent years, Mills notes, he's also seen essential and aggressive funding for cancer research stymied by what he calls “political wrangling.”

“When people who don't believe in evolution are in Congress,” Mills says, it helps explain the impasse: “Many of the established institutions and cancer centers are so concerned about the change in patient-care reimbursement and the future of research funding that they are retrenching rather than expanding.”

Not the Knight Cancer Institute. Not the new home of Mills and some 15 members of his lab.

“When I talked to people here about the next step in precision oncology, they immediately came back and said, 'Let's do it,' ” Mills says. “That flexibility, the willingness to be better rather than to simply hold the fort, which many cancer centers are doing, was an incredible attraction.

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Beth Nakamura | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Dr. Gordon Mills views the Knight Cancer Institute as a "young, growing, vital cancer center that is dedicated to changing the way we manage cancer."

“It’s an opportunity to be at a young, growing, vital cancer center that is dedicated to changing the way we manage cancer,” Mills says.



And one that is uniquely positioned to pursue his ...



Vendetta? It's a strong word, but cancer and Gordon Mills have history. When asked why the Knight Institute is best positioned to make historic advances, Mills didn't miss a beat:



"I'm here," he said.



Undistracted by the view. Inspired by the challenge. Humbled by those who have passed, and passed before.





— Steve Duin

