Bernard Fisher (scientist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bernard Fisher
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| Born | August 23, 1918 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| Died | October 16, 2019 (aged 101) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| Education | University of Pittsburgh |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Physician |
| Institutions | University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine |
Bernard Fisher (born August 23, 1918 – died October 16, 2019) was an American surgeon. He was a true pioneer in understanding and treating breast cancer. Born in Pittsburgh, he led the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast Project at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Dr. Fisher's important work proved that early breast cancer could be treated better with a surgery called lumpectomy. This was combined with other treatments like radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or hormonal therapy. This new approach was much more effective than the older, more drastic surgery called radical mastectomy.
His research changed breast cancer treatment forever. It ended the standard practice of radical mastectomy, which had been used for over 75 years. Thanks to Dr. Fisher, breast cancer survival rates have improved around the world. He was seen as a "medical hero" for bringing about these huge changes. In 1985, he received the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research. This award recognized his studies that greatly improved the lives of women with breast cancer.
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Early Life and School
Bernard Fisher was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents were Anna and Reuben Fisher. His family was Jewish. His brother, Edwin, also became a pathologist. The two brothers even worked together on cancer research when they were younger.
Bernard went to Taylor Allderdice High School and graduated in 1936. Years later, in 2009, he was honored in their alumni hall of fame. He then went on to medical school at the University of Pittsburgh, finishing in 1943. After that, he completed his training to become a surgeon.
Bernard Fisher's Career
Early Research and Surgery
Dr. Fisher became an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh. There, he started and directed a special lab for surgical research. He was interested in many things, like how a liver could regrow in rats. He also studied how hypothermia (very low body temperature) affected the body and how the body might reject a new organ. While doing this research, he also performed general surgeries and surgeries on blood vessels. He was even one of the first surgeons to perform kidney transplants.
From 1950 to 1952, he studied experimental surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1955, he went to London to learn more about organ transplantation.
Joining the NSABP
In 1957, Dr. Fisher returned to the University of Pittsburgh. He received a request from Dr. I.S. Ravdin, who had been his teacher. Dr. Ravdin asked him to join a meeting about a new project. This project was called the Surgical Adjuvant Chemotherapy Breast Project, later known as the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP).
At first, Dr. Fisher wasn't very interested in breast cancer. He later said, "I wasn’t the least bit interested in breast cancer." But because Dr. Ravdin was a very important person, he attended the meeting. At that time, using "clinical trials" (studies with patients) to get information was a very new idea. The idea of giving treatment after surgery was also new. Dr. Fisher became very interested in how tumors spread, a process called metastasis. He was "captivated" by this mystery and by the idea of clinical trials.
He realized there was not much information about breast cancer. He also saw a lack of interest in understanding the disease. He learned about the need for "randomized clinical trials." These are studies where patients are randomly assigned to different treatments. This helps doctors get reliable information. He decided to stop his other research and focus on breast cancer. He and his brother Edwin began studying how tumors spread. He would spend the next 40 years studying breast cancer.
In 1958, Dr. Fisher took part in the first randomized clinical trial for breast cancer. This study looked at giving medicine after a radical mastectomy. It involved over 800 women. The study found that a chemotherapy drug helped women before menopause. But doctors were still slow to start using medicine after surgery.
Leading the NSABP
In 1967, Dr. Fisher was asked to apply for the chairman position of the NSABP. He officially got the job on May 9, 1967. For many years after that, he led clinical trials that completely changed how breast cancer was treated.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Dr. Fisher studied cancer. He also ran studies comparing different treatments. He looked at how well lumpectomy worked compared to total mastectomy. He also studied lumpectomy followed by chemotherapy or radiation.
Major Achievements
Dr. Fisher's work changed how we understand breast cancer. It also helped thousands of women live longer and better lives. He showed that cancer cells could travel through lymph nodes to reach the bloodstream and other parts of the body. This new understanding led to a new way of managing breast cancer. It showed that the disease often affects the whole body from the start.
He was the first to show that a less invasive surgery, the lumpectomy, worked just as well as the more disfiguring radical mastectomy. He also proved that giving chemotherapy and hormonal therapy after surgery was helpful. His work also showed that it was possible to prevent breast cancer in women who were at high risk of getting the disease.
Besides changing breast cancer treatment, Dr. Fisher also helped create a standard for how to test treatments for many other diseases. His early work on how tumors spread also helped other scientists understand how breast cancer moves through the body.
Later Career and Impact
After some challenges, Dr. Fisher returned to his role at the NSABP. He continued his efforts to show that a drug called tamoxifen could lower breast cancer risk in women who were at high risk.
In 1986, he was named a Distinguished Service Professor of Surgery. He left his position as chairman of the NSABP in 1994.
Dr. Fisher believed his greatest contribution was his lab research. This research changed how we understand and treat breast cancer. The Atlantic magazine noted that today, medicine relies on studies like the ones Dr. Fisher pioneered. His story reminds us how important these studies are for guiding treatment decisions. Even into his nineties, Dr. Fisher remained active as a professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Memberships and Awards
Dr. Fisher was a member of many important scientific and medical groups. He served on several scientific committees. The White House even appointed him to special cancer advisory boards. He was also on the boards of many medical journals.
He was president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology from 1992 to 1993. He also served on the board of directors for the American Association for Cancer Research.
In 1991, he became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He also received the Jacobson Innovation Award from the American College of Surgeons in 2009.
Honors and Awards
Early in his career, Dr. Fisher won a Markle Scholarship.
In 1985, he won the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award. This award recognized his huge impact on modern breast cancer treatment. It helped women with this serious disease live longer and better lives.
In 2006, he received the American Association for Cancer Research Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research. Dr. Margaret Foti, CEO of the AACR, said that Dr. Fisher's work not only helped those with the disease but also helped prevent breast cancer in high-risk women.
Other awards Dr. Fisher won:
- Fulbright Fellowship
- General Motors Cancer Research Foundation's Kettering Prize (1993)
- Medallion for Scientific Achievement of the American Surgical Association (2003)
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Research
- American Cancer Society Medal of Honor (1986)
- Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center’s C. Chester Stock Award
- James Ewing Award of the Society of Surgical Oncology
- Sheen Lifetime Achievement Award of the American College of Surgeons
- Distinguished Service Award from the Friends of the National Library of Medicine
- AACR-Joseph H. Burchenal Clinical Research Award (1998)
- AstraZeneca Historical Milestones Excellence in Clinical Research Award (2003)
- Komen Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction (1988) from the Susan G. Komen Foundation
- Distinguished Service Award for Scientific Achievement of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (1999)
- Pittsburgh's Man of the Year Award
- Jacobson Innovation Award, the highest research award from the American College of Surgeons
He also received honorary doctorates from:
- Yale University (2004)
- Carlow University
- Mount Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York
- University of Pittsburgh
To honor his amazing career, the University of Pittsburgh created the Bernard Fisher Lecture in 2005. In 2006, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine named a special professorship after him: the Dr. Bernard Fisher Professor of Surgery.
Personal Life
Dr. Fisher's wife of 69 years, Shirley Kruman Fisher, passed away in 2016. She was also a medical researcher who worked in bacteriology. Both she and Bernard's brother, Edwin, worked with him on his early research. Bernard and Shirley had three children.
Bernard Fisher passed away in Pittsburgh on October 16, 2019. He was 101 years old.
Dr. Gabriel Hortobagyi described Fisher as a "very, very complex man." He said Dr. Fisher "could charm you off your feet in no time" but also had a "reputation for arrogance."
See also
