Dr. Donald Morton was a pioneering surgical oncologist who revolutionized cancer treatment through innovative surgical approaches and immunotherapy research. He served as Chief of the melanoma program and co-director of the surgical oncology fellowship program at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California, now known as Saint John's Cancer Institute. Born in Richwood, West Virginia, during the Depression in a home without running water or electricity, he overcame humble beginnings to become one of the world's most influential cancer surgeons. After earning his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and medical degree from UC San Francisco in 1958, he began his cancer research journey at the National Cancer Institute in 1960 before rising to become Chief of Surgical Oncology at UCLA in 1971.
Dr. Morton's seminal contribution was developing the sentinel lymph node biopsy technique, which transformed the standard of care for melanoma and breast cancer patients by precisely identifying the first lymph node to which cancer might spread. This innovation has saved the U.S. healthcare system approximately $3.8 billion annually by eliminating unnecessary surgical procedures and their associated complications. His early observations of spontaneous melanoma remissions led him to pioneer cancer immunotherapy research, developing the first successful application of bacille Calmette-Guerin immunotherapy for metastatic cancer and establishing the foundation for bladder cancer treatment using intravesical BCG. He also dedicated four decades to developing melanoma therapeutic vaccines, including Canvaxin, which combined irradiated tumor cells with BCG to stimulate immune responses against cancer.
Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Morton trained over 135 surgical oncology fellows, most of whom now hold academic positions at medical schools and cancer institutes worldwide. He published more than 600 peer-reviewed articles and secured continuous National Institutes of Health funding for 35 years, ranking as the agency's top investigator in grant funding in 2000. His work establishing the John Wayne Cancer Institute in 1991, following the creation of the John Wayne Cancer Clinic at UCLA in 1981, created a enduring legacy in cancer research and patient care. Dr. Morton's approach to surgical oncology, blending meticulous technique with immunological innovation, continues to influence cancer treatment protocols globally despite his passing in 2014.
