Our Stories

While survival rates are increasing for patients with common types of cancer, cancer treatment may pose risk to the heart. The Jack Loacker Center for Cardio-Oncology is a partnership of Providence Cancer Institute and Providence Heart Institute to help patients keep their heart healthy while receiving lifesaving cancer care.

Thanks to Providence Foundations of Oregon and other Providence partners, college students from underserved communities are being mentored and supported as they apply to medical school. 

Nearly 20,000 runners and walkers in the 40th year of Providence Hood to Coast Relay raised more than $650,000 to support cancer research at Providence Cancer Institute. Community support of this event helps Providence scientists discover new innovations in treating cancer.

When a Hillsboro man learned he had a noncancerous tumor in his jaw, he turned to Providence Cancer Institute for help. Doctors performed the innovative “Jaw in a Day” surgery that uses the leg bone to shape a new jaw.

Brad and Kathleen McLeroy will be forever grateful for the personally tailored care Brad received at Providence Cancer Institute. Brad is the full-time winemaker for Ayres Vineyard, and Kathleen manages winery operations.

In 2007, Mark Williams learned he had 14 tumors in his lungs and esophagus. His doctor told him he had stage IV melanoma and would not live more than a year. Mark and his family refused to accept this devastating timeline and sought a second opinion from Brendan Curti, M.D., at Providence Cancer Institute

Kyle, husband and father of two young boys, discovered he had thymoma, which is cancer of the thymus. An aggressive tumor in his chest was nearly the size of a grapefruit.

A patient's care team must walk a tightrope to effectively treat the brain tumor without causing irreparable damage to the surrounding tissue. Cancer patients are typically offered a treatment plan that includes a combination of chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and novel clinical trial options that include immunotherapy—harnessing the body’s own immune system to attack the tumor.

Kristina Young, M.D., Ph. D., Mark Whiteford, M.D., and their colleagues recently shared the exciting results of a clinical trial at Providence Cancer Institute for patients with locally advanced colorectal cancer. Specializing in radiation oncology, Dr. Young is assistant member at Earle A. Chiles Research Institute as well as a member of The Oregon Clinic.

Despite decades of research, pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest forms of cancer. Most patients do not experience a durable response to current treatment.

Providence Cancer Institute is among a handful of centers in the world capable of developing a type of cancer immunotherapy called adoptive cell therapy.

Falls are the leading cause of injury for individuals over the age of 65, and a fall can initiate a spiral of decline. The pandemic has made the situation worse with a reduction in physical activity. More seniors than ever are at risk of falling.