Michael Baum’s contribution to improving health has extended far beyond his outstanding skills as a breast cancer surgeon. He has pushed the boundaries of breast cancer research, with new treatment strategies that have improved survival, has developed innovative approaches for caring for the whole person, and has challenged practices that lack evidence.

Professor Baum pioneered the strategy of lumpectomy combined with radiotherapy—considered heretical when he began the work—rather than radical mastectomy. He established the first nurse counselling service at King’s College Hospital in 1981 and the first psychosocial oncology research team in the United Kingdom. This humanitarian approach explains why he is currently visiting professor of medical humanities at University College London, as well as professor emeritus of surgery.

People who have worked with Professor Baum consider that they have benefited from "his skill, talents and expertise, and his far sightedness and vision." He was instrumental in developing ethical models for randomised clinical trials and informed consent procedures. He established the value of randomised controlled trials in breast cancer and demonstrated the benefits of adjuvant treatment, including conducting the first trial of adjuvant tamoxifen, which ultimately led to a 30% reduction in breast cancer mortality.

He has not been afraid to change his mind or rock the establishment boat if he believed this to be in patients’ best interests. Although he contributed to setting up the NHS breast screening programme in the UK, he challenged its organisation when he thought that it wouldn’t be able to deliver what had been considered possible. He was a cofounder of HealthWatch, a charity that examines claims for treatments that have not undergone critical assessment. He considers all this to be part of maintaining scientific integrity, which is the thread that has run throughout his career.

Reprinted from the BMJ.com