Fred J. Ansfield, M.D.

Fred Joseph Ansfield, M.D. (1910 - 1996) was an American pioneer of medical oncology. He was a leader in applying 5-FU (5-Fluorouracil) to humans, demonstrating its effectiveness as a chemotherapy drug. Ansfield co-founded the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in 1964, along with Harry Bisel, Arnoldus Goudsmit, Herman H. Freckman, Robert W. Talley, William Wilson and Jane Cooke Wright. He served as ASCO's third president (1966–1967).

"He shall be remembered by cancer treatment specialists everywhere as one of the founders of Medical Oncology." He attended the University of Wisconsin, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1931. During this period he first had the idea to use mice to find a cure for mammary cancer in animals.

Ansfield received his M.D. in 1933 from the University of Wisconsin Medical School. After his internship and residency training at Milwaukee County Hospital, Ansfield became a camp physician for the Civilian Conservation Corps near Glidden, Wisconsin. He entered private practice there in 1936, with the goal of saving enough money to fund his mouse experiments.

In 1957, Dr. Ansfield joined the University of Wisconsin's faculty in an instructor position in the clinical oncology division of the Department of Surgery. His first faculty assignment was testing 5-FU (5-Fluorouracil), a new drug conceptualized and developed by Professor Charles Heidelberger of the McArdle Laboratory. "Heidelberger’s work with Dr. Curreri, the Director of the Cancer Hospital, and Dr. Fred Ansfield demonstrated its clinical efficacy in cancer treatment and revolutionized the field of chemotherapy. In Dr. Ansfield's book(s), he describes chemotherapeutic approaches in treating approximately 4000 cancer patients over a 15-year period.

On May 19, 1985, Dr. Ansfield received the Emeritus Faculty Award from the Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association for his pioneering chemotherapy work.

Publications Author or co-author of 125 professional publications including abstracts, articles, chapters and books including:

Clinical Studies with 5-Fluorouracil, 1958 Chemotherapy of Malignant Neoplasms, 1973