Today, he is cancer-free thanks to Mount Sinai South Nassau’s prostate care specialists

In early 2019, Jimmie Luvert, 72, was having increasing difficulty passing urine. He scheduled an appointment with his physician, who referred him to Mount Sinai South Nassau urologist Daniel McCally, MD. Dr. McCally performed a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test that showed that the level of PSA in Mr. Luvert’s blood was elevated, an indicator of prostate cancer.

Dr. McCally referred Mr. Luvert to Michael Herman, MD, Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Director of Urology, who ordered an ultrasound and MRI of the prostate, which confirmed a high likelihood of prostate cancer. Thankfully, the MRI-targeted biopsy caught the cancer early, and Mr. Luvert was given the option of surgery or radiation therapy to remove the tumor.

Mr. Luvert didn’t want surgery and chose radiation therapy. In September 2020, after 45 sessions of radiation therapy under the supervision of Leester Wu, MD, Director of Radiation Oncology, Mr. Luvert rang the traditional bell to mark the end of treatment. “They gave me the tools to fight my cancer,” said Mr. Luvert of Dr. Wu and Dr. Herman.

“We take the worry out of diagnosis to focus on providing patients with the treatment technologies they require to battle a prostate cancer diagnosis,” says Dr. Herman, a specialist in robotic and laparoscopic surgery for prostate cancer. He uses MRI-targeted biopsies and the latest biomarkers to reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies while more accurately diagnosing prostate cancer, thereby leading to improved outcomes for patients.

Rated “High Performing” in urology by U.S.News &World Report, Mount Sinai South Nassau has a team of experienced prostate cancer

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specialists who use the latest diagnostic techniques, including PSMAbased PET scan and MRI-targeted biopsy, to diagnose prostate cancer in its earliest stage.

PSMA-based PET scan is a recent technology that allows doctors to pinpoint the exact location of cancer cells in the body and stage the cancer more accurately. The PSMA-based PET scan is also more sensitive than traditional imaging, which means that even slight amounts of cancer cells can be detected. MRI-targeted biopsies are another innovative technique using MRI images to guide a biopsy needle directly to suspicious areas in the prostate. This targeted