The Milton and Carroll Petrie Department of Urology at Mount Sinai has launched the Mount Sinai Robert F. Smith Mobile Prostate Cancer Screening Unit to support prostate health in the Black community.
The mobile van is equipped to perform screenings and tests including the prostate-specific antigen test, digital rectal exam, ExactVu™ micro-ultrasound system, EchoNous bladder scanner, genomics testing, and more.
The mobile unit was created to address the disproportionately high incidence of prostate cancer in the Black community—Black men are 70 percent more likely to develop high-risk prostate cancer, and are also more than twice as likely to die of the disease, as white men.
In the United States, prostate cancer is the second-most-common form of cancer in men, following skin cancer. About 1 in 40 American men will die of prostate cancer and Black men are more at risk. Early prostate cancer detection is the best way to keep healthy. The American Urological Association recommends that all men above age 55, and all Black men above age 45, consult with their doctor to discuss the benefits of screening.
"The Robert F. Smith Mobile Prostate Cancer Screening Unit will be an invaluable service for the community, allowing us to meet our patients where they are," says Ash Tewari, MBBS, MCh, Chair of Urology at the Mount Sinai Health System and the Kyung Hyun Kim, MD Professor of Urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "Our goal is that with increased education, awareness, and access to testing, we can help detect prostate cancer early, save lives, and close the gaps in high-risk diagnostic and fatality rates."
"With Black men at an increased risk of both being diagnosed with and dying from prostate cancer, getting these life-saving resources for testing and treatment into our communities has never been more urgent," said Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. "I am proud to support Mount Sinai in these efforts to ensure we do not continue to lose far too many husbands, fathers, uncles, brothers, sons, and friends to this disease. This mobile screening unit will bring awareness and care right into the communities where they are most needed."
Mount Sinai Health System will join forces with local community partners to raise awareness about the disease and services offered by the mobile unit, set up prostate screening appointments at the mobile magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit in highly concentrated Black neighborhoods across New York City, and schedule follow-up visits as needed for patients with Mount Sinai Health System urologists.
The Mobile Unit will be making the following stops in the coming weeks:
- Saturday, May 14: 9 am to 4 pm EDT: Friendship Baptist Church, 92 Herkimer Street, Brooklyn, New York 11216
- Sunday, May 22: 11 am to 4:30 pm EDT: Christian Fellowship SDA Church, 777 Schenectady Ave, Brooklyn, New York 11203
- Saturday, June 18: 11 am to 4:30 pm EDT: Annual Juneteenth Celebration—Street Fair, 116thStreet between Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue) and Fifth Avenue, New York City
Made possible by a donation from Mr. Smith, the mobile unit brings state-of-the-art imaging equipment and specialized staff directly to the communities that need them most. The initiative is led by Dr. Tewari, a world-renowned urologist and prostate cancer surgeon. As Director of the Center of Excellence for Prostate Cancer at Mount Sinai, he leads a multidisciplinary team committed to improving prostate cancer treatment, research, and education. The department is at the forefront of urological care and treats more than 100,000 patients annually.
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.
