Team Draft Tours OHSU

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) –

A former NFL linebacker came to Portland to see how researchers at Oregon Health & Science University are bringing new hope to cancer patients.

Chris Draft lost his wife to lung cancer in 2011. Before she died, the couple launched Team Draft to raise money and awareness to fight the disease.

Keasha Draft was not a smoker. Experts say nearly 60 percent of newly diagnosed lung cancer patients are former smokers or have never smoked.

Chris Draft said he was inspired by what he saw at OHSU’s Knight Cancer Institute Thursday.

He talked to scientists who are working to test DNA so they can determine which cancer drugs work best for each patient.

“It really brings a lot of hope to patients right now and to future patients,” he said.

Chris Draft played in the NFL from 1998 to 2009 on six different teams, including the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers.