The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has chosen Carl M. Mansfield, MD, ScD (Hon.), FASTRO to receive the ASTRO Gold Medal during the Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, October 20, 2015, at ASTRO’s 57th Annual Meeting, October 18-21, 2015 at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio, TX. 

The ASTRO Gold Medal is the highest honor bestowed upon revered members of ASTRO who have achieved outstanding lifetime contributions in the field of radiation oncology, including in research, clinical care and teaching, as well as through their dedicated service to ASTRO. First awarded in 1977, the ASTRO Gold Medal has been conferred on only 78 of ASTRO’s more than 10,000 members, including the three 2015 awardees. Candidates for the Gold Medal are formally nominated via a letter of support by one Active ASTRO member along with letters of recommendation from two additional Active members of ASTRO. The letters provide a detailed history of the nominees’ achievements and their impact on the advancement of radiation oncology. Nominees may be from any of the scientific disciplines represented in ASTRO’s membership, including radiation oncology, biology and physics.

Carl M. Mansfield, MD, ScD (Hon.), FASTRO, has been a member of ASTRO since 1970. When he retired from a nearly 50-year medical career in 2002, he was Associate Director of the Greenebaum Cancer Center and Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland. His career included the positions of Professor and Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City; Professor and Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Nuclear Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia; and Associate Director of the Division of Cancer Treatment, Diagnosis and Treatment Centers Radiation Research Program at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Mansfield is considered a pioneer in intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) for early stage breast cancer. He produced a seminal 1983 report comparing perioperative and intraoperative (Iridium -192) breast implants that laid the groundwork for much of the continuing research in this field today. His work also led to advances in the conservative management of breast cancer through breast irradiation and local brachytherapy; this method of treatment excised the tumor without removing the entire breast. Mansfield served as primary or co-author on more than 200 original original publications and more than 30 original abstracts. He has also written a book on breast cancer and was editor of two radiation therapy textbooks. 

Thinking about the genesis of his work, Mansfield credits the inspiration of his mentor, Dr. Simon Kramer. “My mentor, Dr. Kramer, revealed the amazing world of radiation oncology science to me through his leadership, guidance and support. He arranged a year’s study for me at the Middlesex Hospital in London, where I continued and fortified my education. My experiences there revealed the endless possibilities for radiation in the treatment of cancer,” said Mansfield. 

Mansfield earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Lincoln University, a medical degree from Howard University, and an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Lincoln University. In addition to his post-doctoral fellowship at Middlesex Hospital, he was the Chernicoff Fellow in Pediatric Radiation Therapy at Jefferson Medical College Hospital from 1964-66 and served another year at the Meyerestein Institute of Radiotherapy at Middlesex Hospital Medical School in 1972-73. 
“I am grateful to be recognized by members, peers and colleagues with the ASTRO Gold Medal. I encourage today’s medical students, researchers and residents to continue the wonderful progress being made in the elimination of cancer.”