Eva Andersson-Dubin, MD, at podium, with panelist (left to right), David Anderson, MD, FACs, Anna Barbieri, MD, Jeffery Meckanick, MD, Cardinale Smith, MD, PhD, and Joseph Sparano , MD, FACP.
The annual Dubin Breast Center Fact vs. Fiction Luncheon and Symposium is a unique event that provides a forum for Mount Sinai leaders to share key insights about all aspects of breast cancer and healthy living, and to answer questions about emerging trends and the future of women’s health.
More than 130 people attended the event, which was held Wednesday, June 1 at The Harmonie Club in New York City.
The panel discussion was moderated by Elisa Port, MD, FACS, and featured a panel of experts, including David Anderson, MD, FACS; Anna Barbieri, MD; Jeffrey Mechanick, MD; Cardinale Smith, MD, PhD; and Joseph Sparano, MD, FACP. Watch the video here.
In opening remarks, Eva Andersson-Dubin, MD, Trustee of the Mount Sinai Health System and Founder of the Dubin Breast Center, noted how the Center continues to grow.
“Today we see an average of 180 to 200 patients a day, and since the day we opened we have seen 380,000 patients,” she said. “I am so thankful to everyone who works at the Center.”
One patient, Julie McAllister, shared her inspiring story. She was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer six years ago when she was 36 years old.
Julie McAllister tells her story of how the Dubin Breast Center helped her overcome triple negative breast cancer.
“I was in complete shock. I was young, very healthy, active a mother of two children–my youngest was just six months at the time,” she said. “There wasn’t any history of breast cancer in my family. Breast cancer wasn’t even a remote part of my reality. I truly didn’t know if and how I was going to survive. I kept thinking about my kids and how much of their life I was going to be around for, not to mention my husband and I wanted more children.“
Immediately after her initial diagnosis, Shari Brasner, MD, her OBGYN doctor, arranged for additional care. Eventually Ms. McAllister chose Mount Sinai for her treatment and surgery, and she was introduced to Hanna Irie, MD, PhD, who would become her oncologist.
“Dr. Irie was the best and felt like my lifeline during my treatment,” she said. “She was straightforward, incredibly smart, kind, and never made me feel like any of my questions and or fears were silly or unwarranted.” The doctor also helped her find a clinical trial to participate in once she completed her standard treatment.
Ms. McAllister would undergo a number of surgeries, five months of chemotherapy, six weeks of radiation, and then years of ongoing surveillance.
“Throughout all that time, I always felt like I was in the best hands and had the best doctors and nurses looking after me and never felt like a generic cancer patient or a statistic,” she said. “The nurses and staff were extremely warm and knowledgeable. The treatment rooms were comfortable, and I never felt alone.”
She added, “Cancer crushes you physically and mentally. It changes you, puts a fear in you that you never knew existed, and alters the way you think and worry for the rest of your life. But knowing that there are places like the Dubin Breast Center, that there are doctors like the ones I was fortunate enough to call mine, who can and will help treat and cure your cancer, is incredible. I am forever grateful for the treatment and care that I received.”
As a result, she was able to have another child, who was born just four months before the event at The Mount Sinai Hospital, two floors above the Dubin Breast Center.
The Dubin Breast Center at The Tisch Cancer Institute of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai was created in 2011 to provide integrated care and services for every phase of breast health and care, including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. Clinicians and staff treat each person individually and holistically, with the goal of alleviating anxiety, enriching lives, and supporting emotional and physical well-being. The team works to advance the standard of care with innovative and emerging treatment, while researching life-saving options for the future.