Bernard Fisher

Bernard Fisher (1918-2019) led the NSABP (National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project) and conducted the landmark trials demonstrating that lumpectomy plus radiation provides equivalent survival to mastectomy for early breast cancer — revolutionizing breast cancer surgery by establishing breast conservation as the standard approach. His systemic hypothesis (breast cancer is a systemic disease at diagnosis) also drove adjuvant systemic therapy trials that transformed survival outcomes.