Cancer | Mount Sinai Today

Study Links Dust at Ground Zero to Prostate Cancer

Sep 9, 2019 | Featured, Prostate Cancer

Eighteen years after the September 11 attacks, Mount Sinai Health System researchers have found a higher incidence of prostate cancer among the World Trade Center (WTC) first responders than other populations, suggesting that chronic inflammation can facilitate the development of prostate cancer.

Emanuela Taioli, MD, PhD; and William Oh, MD

The most recent findings, published in June in Molecular Cancer Research, were led by Emanuela Taioli, MD, PhD, Director of the Institute for Translational Epidemiology and Associate Director for Population Science at The Tisch Cancer Institute; and William Oh, MD, Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Deputy Director of The Tisch Cancer Institute.

“Our research supports the first line of evidence that acute World Trade Center dust exposure through inhalation can profoundly disturb gene expression and immune cell infiltration in the prostate,” says Dr. Taioli.

While working at Ground Zero, the first responders did not wear protective gear and were exposed to dust particles composed of volatile organic compounds from jet fuel, as well as asbestos, benzene, silica, glass fibers, polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and dioxins from the collapsed buildings. Given the fine particulate nature of the WTC dust, the researchers hypothesize that the toxins entered the blood through the lungs and eventually reached the prostate and other distal organs.

“The results of this study support our hypothesis that exposure to the dust at the World Trade Center caused chronic changes in the body,” says Dr. Oh. “The long-lasting inflammatory effect in the prostate revealed in our study calls for further investigation as to the effect of this exposure in other organs, such as the kidney or thyroid, or the central nervous system.”

In 2018, Dr. Taioli led a study published in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention, which reported that responders who spent more time working at Ground Zero and had a higher exposure to the dust cloud that formed after the WTC buildings collapsed, had more advanced stages of prostate cancer—stages III and IV—representing tumor invasion. Interestingly, the 2018 study found that at the beginning of their service at the WTC, the responders were mostly nonsmokers of diverse ethnic backgrounds who were considerably healthier than the general population and at lower risk for cancer.

According to the recent 2019 report, approximately 20 percent of human cancers are thought to be caused by chronic infection or inflammatory states, and chronically unresolved inflammation is related to increased risk of malignant disease. When tested in the laboratory, the toxic dust was shown to induce the secretion of cytokines— small proteins involved in modulating responses to inflammation infection, cancer, and trauma.

Mount Sinai runs the largest World Trade Center Health Program Clinical Center of Excellence in the New York metropolitan region, with 25,000 patients who have consented to participate in research. A biobank of more than 600 cancer samples from first responders has helped lay the groundwork for Mount Sinai’s WTC research findings.

Dr. Taioli says the latest research raises additional questions about whether air pollution, in general, causes an inflammatory response in people. “This work has larger implications for the population exposed to environmental particulates, such as emissions from motor vehicles, industrial processes, power generation, and the household combustion of solid fuel,” she says. “Inflammation could be the common pathway driving an increase in cancer occurrence.”

Push-Up Challenge Brings Awareness to Prostate Health

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Prostate Cancer

More than 120 Mount Sinai Health System faculty and staff completed more than 6,000 push-ups at the recent fourth annual Push-Up for Prostate Cancer Challenge held in Guggenheim Pavilion. The event, which commemorated Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in September, challenged each individual to complete 29 pushups in honor of the 29,000 men who die from prostate cancer in the United States each year.

“This very important event reflects Mount Sinai’s commitment to prostate cancer,” said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System, who kicked off the challenge by completing 96 push-ups.

Dr. Tewari, left, and Dr. Charney, far right, with winner John Mendez.

Dr. Tewari, left, and Dr. Charney, far right, with winner Daphne Semet, MBA.

Dr. Tewari, left, and Dr. Charney, far right, with The Mount Sinai Hospital Urology team.

The first-place team trophy was awarded to the Department of Urology at The Mount Sinai Hospital, which completed 775 push-ups. Individual awards were given to the top male and female, as well as to the individual who completed the most modified push-ups. First place honors were given to John Mendez, Customer Service Representative, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (male, 101 pushups); Daphne Semet, MBA, Vice Chair of Administration and Finance, Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine (female, 102 push-ups); and Mena Singh, MPA, Senior Accountant, Department of Finance (modified-style, 106 push-ups).

Push-Up Challenge Brings Awareness to Prostate Health The program also offered information about prostate cancer and provided cancer screenings and risk consultations. “Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers, but it does not produce any symptoms, and the only way you can go after it is by being proactive,” said Ash Tewari, MBBS, MCh, the Kyung Hyun Kim, MD Chair in Urology, Mount Sinai Health System, who led the event.

National Cancer Institute Leader Visits Mount Sinai

Nov 5, 2018 | Cancer, Community, Featured, Research

From left: Luis M. Isola, MD, Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology), and Pediatrics; Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, Director, The Tisch Cancer Institute; Norman E. Sharpless, MD, Director, National Cancer Institute; and William Oh, MD, Deputy Director, The Tisch Cancer Institute, and Associate Director of Clinical & Translational Research for the Institute.

Aging is one of the greatest risk factors for developing cancer, which is most frequently diagnosed among people aged 65-74. But there are no simple explanations for the “multifaceted” science behind this connection, according to Norman E. Sharpless, MD, Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

On Thursday, September 13, Dr. Sharpless addressed the topic in a seminar titled “The Dynamic Interplay between Cancer and Aging,” which he presented before a standing-room-only crowd in Davis Auditorium on The Mount Sinai Hospital campus. Dr. Sharpless has devoted much of his career to studying the connection between cancer and aging. Developing a better understanding of this relationship is particularly important, he said, because people over the age of 65 make up the fastest growing segment of the nation’s population.

Dr. Sharpless was invited to speak about his own research by The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he spent the earlier part of the day meeting with leaders of the Institute and medical school. He had lunch with postdoctoral fellows and students who work in Mount Sinai’s cancer-focused laboratories, and met with faculty and staff who oversee Mount Sinai’s Cancer Center Support Grant. The grant provides Mount Sinai with its NCI designation as one of an elite group of U.S. institutions committed to the research and treatment of cancer.

During the day’s meetings, Dr. Sharpless shared his vision for NCI programs and discussed trends in funding and cancer research. The Tisch Cancer Institute received its NCI designation for the fi rst time in 2015 and is preparing to renew the competitive grant in 2019. Since his appointment to the NCI in 2017, Dr. Sharpless has spent time visiting NCI-designated cancer centers around the country. On his recent trip to New York City, he also visited the Albert Einstein Cancer Center.

Do I Need a Biopsy or Surgery for My Thyroid Nodule?

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Head and Neck, Your Health

Thyroid nodules are very common. These masses within the thyroid gland are composed of tissue and/or fluid and are estimated to be present in more than 50 percent of those aged 50 and older. Nodules can run in families, are more common in women, and increase in frequency with age.

Patients diagnosed with a thyroid nodule often ask if their nodule needs to be biopsied or surgically removed. Sometimes the answer is yes, but often the answer depends on a number of patient and nodule-related factors. Catherine Sinclair, MD, FRACS, head and neck surgeon at Mount Sinai West, explains why your nodule may, or may not, need special attention.

How do you know if you need a biopsy?

More than 95 percent of thyroid nodules are non-cancerous, although a family history of thyroid cancer in a first-degree relative or whole-body/neck/chest radiation exposure may increase the risk. Nodules have a low cancer risk, so whether to biopsy depends on the size and ultrasound appearance of the mass.

Over the past decade, many nodules smaller than one centimeter have been incidentally detected on imaging (CT, MRI) that was ordered for another reason. Often these nodules were inappropriately biopsied, and, if the biopsy was positive for thyroid cancer, overly extensive total thyroid surgery was performed. Recent data from Japan and the United States suggests that appropriately selected thyroid cancers can remain stable over time. Termed “microcarcinomas,” these cancers are less than one centimeter in size and may be adequately managed without surgery or with limited thyroid surgery.

How is risk measured?

In an effort to reduce “incidentally diagnosed” microcarcinomas, the American Thyroid Association (ATA) Guidelines for Thyroid Nodules and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer classifies nodules into risk categories for biopsy based on thyroid nodule size and ultrasound appearance. Those classified as high-risk nodules should be biopsied when more than one centimeter in size, whereas low-risk nodules—depending on their appearance on ultrasound—should not be biopsied until they are one and a half to two centimeters in size. Many thyroid surgeons perform their own ultrasounds and use the ATA risk classification system (along with any biopsy results) to determine who should have a biopsy, which nodules should be operated on, and which nodules can be safely observed.

What are the symptoms and treatment for thyroid nodules?

In addition to posing a cancer risk, nodules may also need to be removed if they grow very large (greater than four centimeters) and cause symptoms like difficulty swallowing, neck discomfort, hoarseness of the voice, and airway compression with shortness of breath. Frequently, a thyroid lobectomy—the removal of a portion of the thyroid gland—may be adequate treatment for a non-cancerous thyroid nodule as well as for small cancerous nodules that are less than four centimeters. However, patients should speak with their surgeon in detail beforehand about the many additional factors affecting surgery, such as the status of the other thyroid lobe, your age, and your personal preferences.

In summary, a thyroid nodule may require an operation if there is a high risk of the nodule being cancerous or if the non-cancerous nodule is large and causing symptoms.

Non-cancerous nodules that are asymptomatic should be observed with intermittent ultrasound follow-up when appropriate. If surgery is necessary, the least aggressive option that will effectively treat the nodule should be chosen.

Dubin Breast Center Honors Three Individuals at Sixth Annual Benefit

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Breast Cancer, Community

From left, honorees Steven J. Burakoff, MD; Brooke Morrow; and Kara DioGuardi.

The Dubin Breast Center of The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Mount Sinai Health System recently held its sixth annual benefit at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan. The celebratory event attracted 520 guests and raised a record $3.4 million to support the Center’s breast health and treatment programs.

From left, Eva Andersson-Dubin, MD; Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mount Sinai Health System; and Elisa Port, MD, FACS.

The evening honored Kara DioGuardi, Brooke Morrow, and Steven J. Burakoff, MD, Dean for Cancer Innovation at The Tisch Cancer Institute. Eva Andersson-Dubin, MD, founder of the Center and a Mount Sinai Trustee, and Elisa Port, MD, FACS, the Center’s Director, presented the awards.

Ms. DioGuardi and Ms. Morrow, close friends who helped each other through two different breast cancer journeys at the Center, were recognized for their inspirational stories of survivorship and their ongoing support of the Center. Dr. Burakoff was honored for his overall commitment to cancer research and clinical care and for his role in leading The Tisch Cancer Institute to be recognized as a National Cancer Institute designated cancer program. Dr. Burakoff, the Founding Director of The Tisch Cancer Institute, is also Lillian and Henry M. Stratton Professor of Cancer Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Breast Surgeon Receives Mother of the Year Award

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Breast Cancer, Community

Susan K. Boolbol, MD, and her children.

Susan K. Boolbol, MD, Chief of Breast Surgery at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, along with new TODAY show co-host and breast cancer survivor Hoda Kotb, recently was honored with the American Cancer Society’s 2017 Mother of the Year award at a special luncheon held at the St. Regis New York hotel in Manhattan.

Dr. Boolbol’s daughters, Emma and Mackenzie Boolbol, presented her with the award after reading a witty, rhythmic introduction that chronicled Dr. Boolbol’s life as a devoted mother and busy doctor who loves her work and cares deeply about her patients.

Kathie Lee Gifford, Ms. Kotb’s friend and longtime television co-host, presented Ms. Kotb with her award. Last year, Ms. Kotb adopted a daughter and became a mother for the first time after the age of 50.

According to the American Cancer Society, the annual awards luncheon—now in its 22nd year—has raised more than $5 million since its inception. Honorees are chosen for distinguishing themselves as remarkable mothers who inspire others through their abilities to balance parenting with social obligations, careers, and philanthropic activities. Past Mother of the Year honorees include fashion designers Vera Wang, Tory Burch, and Carolina Herrera, as well as Kathie Lee Gifford herself, and philanthropists Anne and Charlotte Ford.

In her acceptance speech, Dr. Boolbol said, “Before I was a mom, I thought about how much I would teach and inspire my children. The reality is that I am overwhelmed by how much I learn and am inspired by them every day.”