Stephanie V. Blank, MD, at Mount Sinai Chelsea
Patients with gynecologic and breast cancers are finding advanced care and a peaceful oasis at the Women’s Cancer Program at Mount Sinai Chelsea, a clinical practice—located in the iconic Google building on 15th Street between 8th and 9th avenues—that was years in the making.
“The Women’s Cancer Program is unique in many ways,” says Luis M. Isola, MD, Gerald J. Friedman Chair in Oncology, and Director, Cancer Clinical Programs, Mount Sinai Health System. “In its location in New York, there are essentially no other cancer centers,” he says, referring to the west side of Manhattan south of 34th Street. “And certainly none affiliated with a major academic institution like the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.”
The Program is based at Mount Sinai Chelsea, an 80,000-square-foot site with pastel walls, comfortable seating, and artfully placed flowers and paintings. “It has a very zen, serene atmosphere,” Dr. Isola says. “On any given day, hundreds of patients go in and out of the center, but there is no noise, there are no lines or bottlenecks. It’s efficient, and for patients, it’s a very welcoming environment.”
The Program provides “one-stop” care for patients diagnosed with breast or gynecologic cancer, says Stephanie V. Blank, MD, Director of Women’s Health, Mount Sinai Chelsea, and Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
The practice emphasizes a team approach, she says, with the team composed of a gynecologic oncologist, a nurse practitioner, an infusion nurse, a genetic counselor, a nutritionist, a social worker, a psychiatrist, and a financial counselor, among others.
Breast surgeon Sarah P. Cate, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, with patient Abigail George at Mount Sinai Chelsea.
The Program also strives to see any patient newly diagnosed with cancer within 24 hours. “We’ll get them right in,” Dr. Blank says. “Our goal is to provide the most excellent patient-centered care and make the whole experience as easy and pleasant as possible for women and their families going through a trying time.”
Dr. Blank, a renowned physician-scientist, says the Program delivers advanced treatments by taking part in several clinical trials, including combination immunotherapy for “frontline” patients—those just diagnosed with cancer. Another trial, for recurrent ovarian cancer, delivers drugs with conjugated antibodies, which are designed to target and kill cancer cells and spare healthy cells. The Program is also inaugurating a sexual health clinic focused on cancer survivors and an onco-fertility clinic dealing with the reproductive challenges faced by women with cancer.
The gynecologic oncology practice works closely with the breast cancer practice, which provides similarly comprehensive care. “We have breast imaging and ambulatory surgery. Except for radical mastectomy with major surgery, all diagnostic and surgical treatment can be done here,” Dr. Isola says. “We have three excellent oncologists who exclusively treat breast cancer, and we have access to supportive oncology, including palliative care, nutritional counseling, and a psychiatrist who is very helpful with emotional support.”
In addition to the Women’s Cancer Program, Mount Sinai Chelsea offers a range of other services for both men and women, including a skin cancer program, hematology-oncology, ambulatory surgery, radiology, and an infusion center that treats patients with cancer and nonmalignant conditions. New spaces for phlebotomy and dermatology, and a lounge for patients, are expected to be completed in coming months.
The Mount Sinai Health System has long been planning for a “future of medicine” that includes improving access and increasing the quality of care for people south of 34th Street, close to where they live and work. “We made a very explicit decision to grow with this practice in Chelsea,” Dr. Isola says. “Here we are, a few years later, and it’s becoming a reality.”