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Paramount Studio chief Brad Grey

In a town that understands how stars are made, Dr. David B. Agus is a medical supernova, which is why a glittering constellation of Hollywood notables turned out Thursday night to raise a stunning $9 million to support his pioneering cancer research.

The Paramount Pictures fundraiser -- labeled "Rebels with a Cause" -- was put together by the studios chief, Brad Grey, who amassed $4.5 million in contributions from the entertainment industry. When high-tech multi-billionaire and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who was being honored for his longtime support of Agus cutting-edge research into cancers genetic roots, was informed of that total, he promptly offered to match it with a personal donation. That brought the nights total to $9 million.

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ThoughAgusis perhaps best known for treatingSteve Jobsin the final years of his advanced illness, it was the physicians treatment of Viacom chairmanSumner Redstonethat prompted entertainment industry philanthropists to take notice of his work. Redstone credits Agus with saving his life after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. The USC medical researcher's patient roster also includesNeil Young, Ted Kennedy, Lance ArmstrongandRobin Quivers. (Agus recently appeared on theHoward Sternshow where the radio host credited him with saving Quivers' life.)

"I met David through Sumner Redstone three years ago," Grey toldThe Hollywood Reporter. "He said to me, 'DavidAgusis a genius.' We became very good friends and I got to know quite a lot about what he's up to. And it's simply inspiring.

"I'm just a show business guy -- these are the real heroes," Grey said ofAgus. "But I think we have some role in this, which is to do anything and everything we can to raise money and fund research so that it's not just this community that is getting this treatment, it's the world. That's why we're here."

Apart from a star-studded patient roster, Agus also has a personal connection to the entertainment industry, since hes married to actress Amy Joyce Povich, daughter of syndicated talk show host MauryPovich, which makes Connie Chung his mother-in-law.

Thursdays turnout, which included an unusually wide mix of stars and moguls, underscored Agus rising celebrity and high-level Hollywood belief in the personal medicine he has pioneered. That approach tailors cancer treatment to a patients unique genetic and molecular makeup, while emphasizing treatments that keep a persons entire system healthy, thereby mobilizing the bodys own cellular defenses and arresting cancers possible spread. The physicians two companies develop the technologies to analyze an individual patients genomes and proteomes so as to identify their unique on-off switches to cancer.

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Paramount's Star-Studded Gala Raises $9 Million for USC Cancer Researcher