Bernard Fisher
American surgeon
Died when: 101 years 54 days (1213 months)Star Sign: Virgo
Bernard Fisher (August 23, 1918 – October 16, 2019) was an American surgeon and a pioneer in the biology and treatment of breast cancer.He was a native of Pittsburgh.
He was Chairman of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast Project at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.His work established definitively that early-stage breast cancer could be more effectively treated by lumpectomy, in combination with radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and/or hormonal therapy, than by radical mastectomy.
The oncology journal and website OncLive described Fisher's research as "launching the breast cancer community into the modern era" and honored him with a Giants of Cancer Care award for his work that ultimately ended the standard practice of performing the Halsted radical mastectomy, a treatment that had been in place for more than 75 years.
Thanks to Fisher, notes another major oncology journal, breast-cancer survival rates have improved worldwide.Fisher faced constant attacks from within medical ranks as he worked to disprove the efficacy of the old status quo treatment, eventually being described as "an iconoclastic figure" who brought about "far reaching changes...in the understanding of cancer and its treatment".
The Atlantic called him "a medical hero".He was awarded the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research in 1985 "for his pioneering studies that have led to a dramatic improvement in survival and in the quality of life for women with breast cancer."
