Many of those who work in oncology or deal with cancer patients know of Prof. Umberto Veronesi and none of them could deny theimportance of his battle against cancer.He devoted his life to improving cancer treatment and quality of life for patients. He was a physician, and a politician, but above all hewas a researcher. He embodied the true spirit of research, i.e., to believe in something and investigate every aspect of it until all the questionsabout it have been satisfactorily answered. He never gave up when faced with challenges, and he never stopped being curious. Hebelieved in science, because he wanted to believe in the future. He mixed scientific knowledge with human warmth and was the pioneerof many breast cancer innovations.From the beginning of Prof. Veronesi’s career, his mission was clear: ‘My first decision was to focus on the fight against cancer. WhenI started at the National Cancer Institute in Milan, I felt a profound sense of rebellion against the surrender of doctors and patients to adisease that caused intense suffering. In particular, I could not stand the havoc of a woman’s body after a mastectomy: in order to removejust a small breast cancer, not only the breast was taken away from the body, but also the axillary lymph nodes and the chest muscles.Consequently, I decided to fight mainly against breast cancer. It was a tough war: the dogma of mastectomy was so deeply-rooted thateverybody thought I was crazy when I suggested conservative breast surgery.’
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