At the benefit gala, from left: Elisa Port, MD, FACS; Eva Andersson-Dubin, MD; and Amy Tiersten, MD.
A leading physician-scientist and three “passionate champions” of breast cancer awareness were honored by the Dubin Breast Center of The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Mount Sinai Health System at its eighth annual benefit. The celebratory event, held on Monday, December 10, at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan, attracted 520 guests and raised $2.6 million to support the Center’s breast health and treatment programs.
The three “champions” were Melissa Spohler, Meredith Shepherd, and their mother, Priscilla Alexander—all diagnosed with breast cancer in their 50s. “This is a family of women who have strength. They have integrity, they are kind, they give to others,” says Eva Andersson-Dubin, MD, founder of the Dubin Breast Center and Mount Sinai Health System Trustee, who presented awards to the honorees with Elisa Port, MD, FACS, the Center’s Director. “These are women we should all look up to as role models to see how they deal with breast cancer.”
Also honored at the gala was a “spectacular clinical investigator,” Amy Tiersten, MD, Clinical Director of Breast Medical Oncology, The Mount Sinai Hospital, and Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “I have really poured a lot of lifeblood and energy into building a research program and clinical practice and collaborating with all the wonderful other physicians at the Dubin Breast Center,” says Dr. Tiersten, who specializes in metastatic breast cancer. “Through Dr. Tiersten’s research, we can provide our patients with the next generation of treatments—treatments that provide hope,” Dr. Port says.
The event included music by accomplished performers, including LaChanze, Ariana DeBose, and Storm Lever from Summer: The Donna Summer Musical on Broadway. And Ms. Alexander, 81, gave a moving speech about the Dubin Breast Center, saying that it did not yet exist when she was treated with cancer at age 53, but it now provides “great comfort” to her daughters and other patients.
From left: honorees Melissa Spohler, Priscilla Alexander, and Meredith Shepherd
“My daughters are part of a sisterhood at the Center,” Ms. Alexander says. “They have the good fortune of being watched over by the best professionals in their specialties, trained at the cutting edge of testing, diagnosis, treatment, emotional support, and ongoing research.” As a patient at another New York City hospital 28 years ago, Ms. Alexander had a double mastectomy and took an early test for a BRCA (breast cancer susceptibility) gene mutation. The test was negative. But because her mother and four of her six female cousins had all been treated for breast cancer, Ms. Alexander urged her four daughters to be vigilant. Ms. Shepherd says, “In hearing my family’s history, everyone’s first question is ‘Are you a BRCA family?’ I always say, ‘No, we’re a something family, it just hasn’t been found yet.’”
Ms. Spohler, 56, had at least one breast screening test every six months starting at age 40. In March 2016, a radiologist saw ambiguous “bright spots” on an MRI, and six months later an ultrasound identified breast cancer. “I was lucky because it was discovered when it was small,” Ms. Spohler says. “I had a double mastectomy because I didn’t want to live with the fear of it coming back.” Ms. Shepherd, 52, was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2018. Her radiologist saw a small mass in her right breast, and a biopsy found that it was a benign growth called a papilloma. Ms. Shepherd says she went “right away” to Dr. Port, who had also treated her sister. As part of a preoperative check before removing the growth, Dr. Port ordered an MRI. That test discovered breast cancer unrelated to the papilloma, and Ms. Shepherd also had a double mastectomy.
All of the honorees say the key to early detection is awareness. “I would say to any woman that if you have breasts, you are potentially at risk,” Ms. Spohler says. “You have to monitor yourself. You have to know your own history and know your family’s history, because that is what might save you.”