The Milton and Caroll Petrie Department of Urology at Mount
Sinai received a $3.8 million donation from philanthropist Robert F. Smith in
2021 to launch the Mount Sinai Robert F. Smith Mobile Prostate Cancer Screening
Unit in partnership with the Mount Sinai Health System to support prostate health
in the Black community. The unit is expected to launch in New York City in
early 2022.
One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in
their lifetime. However, in the Black community the number is much higher—Black
Americans are more than twice as likely to die from the disease.
“I am extremely grateful to Robert F. Smith for his very generous gift and for becoming my partner in this mission to help detect prostate cancer early and provide a life-saving screening tool for so many Black men,” says Ash Tewari, MBBS, MCh, FRCS (Hon.), Professor and System Chair, Milton and Carroll Petrie Department of Urology, and Director of the Center of Excellence for Prostate Cancer at The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
“The idea for the Mount Sinai Robert F. Smith Mobile Prostate Cancer Screening Unit was in response to a major health problem—the higher incidence and mortality from prostate cancer in Black men, which I not only identified in my own practice
and research, but has been observed across the country. Reasons for this include access to health care, the environment, comorbidities, and even specific molecular pathways in
the body for Black men.”
The Mount Sinai Robert F. Smith Mobile Prostate Cancer
Screening Unit will address the high incidence of prostate cancer in the Black
community by:
Joining forces with local community partners in New York City to raise awareness about the disease and services being offered by the mobile unit.
Setting up prostate screening appointments at the mobile magnetic resonance imaging unit in highly concentrated Black neighborhoods across New York City.
Scheduling follow-up visits as needed for patients with Mount Sinai Health System
urologists.
“It’s unconscionable that in our great country and at this
moment of technological breakthrough, Black Americans are still subject to
staggeringly worse health outcomes,” says Mr. Smith, founder, chairman, and CEO
of Vista Equity Partners. “We can fix this. I’m grateful to Mount Sinai for
being a standout in providing world-class care to all patients, and I’m honored
to help their team serve New York City’s communities with early detection and a
path to curative treatments.”
The Department of Urology at the Mount Sinai Health System
has one of the most robust robotic surgery programs in the country, with Dr.
Tewari having performed more than 7,000 surgeries. Genomic testing and advanced
imaging are routine for patients with prostate cancer, providing personalized
and precise treatment protocols. Dr. Tewari and his team have performed
thousands of MRI-guided fusion biopsies, have a very large cohort of active
surveillance patients, and have been innovators in developing novel surgical
techniques to optimize sexual function recovery and urinary continence.
Mount Sinai’s Center of Excellence for Prostate Cancer at
The Tisch Cancer Institute, under the leadership of Dr. Tewari, offers the most
up-to-date diagnosis, management, and treatment approaches for prostate cancer.
The team of world-renowned experts includes urologic, radiation, and medical oncologists,
as well as impotence specialists, pathologists, radiologists, and oncology
nurses.
Screening and Tests Available on the Unit:
Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) Test
Digital Rectal Exam (DRE)
ExactVu Micro-Ultrasound System
EchoNous Bladder Scanner
Genomic Test
Featured
Ash Tewari, MBBS, MCh, FRCS (Hon.)
Professor and System Chair, Milton and Carroll Petrie Department of Urology, Director of the Center of Excellence for Prostate Cancer at The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Surgeon-in-Chief of the Tisch Cancer Hospital at The Mount Sinai Hospital