Summary5 min read

Podcast Summary: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

Episode: Ashutosh (Ash) K. Tewari, MD, Urologist and Prostate Cancer Specialist
Host: Grace Lynn Keller
Date: December 12, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Dr. Ashutosh (Ash) K. Tewari, chairman of the Department of Urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, discusses significant trends in prostate cancer, cutting-edge approaches in early diagnosis and patient monitoring, and his philosophy on leadership in healthcare. The conversation covers the increasing prevalence of prostate cancer, innovations in minimally invasive treatment, and advice for future leaders in medicine.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dr. Tewari’s Background and Current Roles

[00:28 – 01:29]

Background: Surgeon scientist leading Urology at Mount Sinai; also Surgeon-in-Chief for a new specialized cancer hospital at Mount Sinai Health System.
Research Focus: Integrates surgery with in-depth study of prostate cancer genetics and molecular imaging.
Daily Life: Continues daily surgical practice alongside research, with ongoing NIH funding.
- Quote: “I am a surgeon scientist. I started by being a surgeon and early on in the journey I realized that maybe I should learn a little bit more deeper part of the genetics of the prostate cancer and molecular imaging part of the prostate cancer.” (Dr. Tewari, 00:45)

2. Current Trends in Prostate Cancer

[01:44 – 03:12]

Rising Incidence: With advances in cardiac care, cancer—especially prostate cancer—is becoming more prevalent globally, affecting over 350,000 men annually.
Complex Challenges: Emphasizes not just treatment, but effective diagnosis, risk stratification, and deciding when to intervene.
Quality of Life: A major focus is reducing treatment-related impacts on sexual function.
- Quote: “My main focus has been as to how to minimize deranged sexual function after treating a prostate cancer patient. And it's a journey and we have made progresses, but we are not at the finish line.” (Dr. Tewari, 02:39)

3. Recent Achievements and Initiatives

[03:12 – 05:33]

Anatomical Advances: Improved understanding of prostate anatomy and nerve relationships has led to refined surgical approaches, reducing collateral damage.
Active Monitoring: Large patient cohorts are closely followed using biopsy, imaging, genomics, and molecular markers, helping avoid unnecessary interventions for low-risk cancers.
Early Diagnosis – The “Million Strong” Initiative:
- Goal: Early detection when cancer is more curable and quality of life can be preserved.
- Deploys mobile units equipped with advanced imaging and point-of-care testing to reach communities.
- Impact: Over 2012,000 patients reached in three years, with programs expanding to Atlanta (Emory) and Long Island.
- Quote: “...we want to find out cancer early, when it is curable, when it is not creating any symptom. Because that is the time when you cannot just cure the cancer, but can also result in having a better quality of life in the patient.” (Dr. Tewari, 04:19)
- Quote: “I have created mobile units. These mobile units are equipped with the best imaging modality, with a point of care, blood testing and they go to where people live.” (Dr. Tewari, 04:36)

4. Leadership in Healthcare

[05:33 – 07:16]

Philosophy: Leadership is about leading by example, compassion, and creating platforms for others to thrive.
Patient-Centric Vision: The primary goal in healthcare is patient care—minimizing anxiety and improving outcomes.
Collaborative Culture: Leaders must cultivate environments where all members—doctors, nurses, PAs, technologists, administrators—can align with patient-focused missions.
Continuous Learning: Emphasizes the importance of learning, adapting, retraining, ambition, and mentorship.
- Quote: “You lead by your actions, you lead by example, you lead by your compassion, you lead by showing people how to look at the future.” (Dr. Tewari, 06:00)
- Quote: “Ultimately patient centric approach will give them to the next level in their journey. And it's all about learning, it's all about responding, it's all about retraining, and it's all about ambitions and mentorship. That's what I would call the leadership.” (Dr. Tewari, 06:43)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On combining surgery and science:
- “I am a surgeon scientist. I started by being a surgeon and early on in the journey I realized that maybe I should learn a little bit more deeper part of the genetics of the prostate cancer and molecular imaging part of the prostate cancer.” (Dr. Tewari, 00:45)
On improving quality of life:
- “My main focus has been as to how to minimize deranged sexual function after treating a prostate cancer patient. And it's a journey and we have made progresses, but we are not at the finish line.” (Dr. Tewari, 02:39)
On the importance of early detection:
- “We want to find out cancer early, when it is curable, when it is not creating any symptom. ...you cannot just cure the cancer, but can also result in having a better quality of life in the patient.” (Dr. Tewari, 04:19)
On mobile diagnostic innovation:
- “I have created mobile units...equipped with the best imaging modality, with a point of care, blood testing and they go to where people live.” (Dr. Tewari, 04:36)
On leadership:
- “You lead by your actions, you lead by example, you lead by your compassion, you lead by showing people how to look at the future.” (Dr. Tewari, 06:00)
- “Ultimately patient centric approach will give them to the next level in their journey...” (Dr. Tewari, 06:43)

Timestamps for Important Segments

00:45 – Dr. Tewari discusses his surgeon-scientist journey
01:44 – Current trends and challenges in prostate cancer
03:23 – Advances in understanding prostate anatomy and nerve sparing surgery
04:19 – Launch of “Million Strong” early detection initiative
04:36 – Details on mobile diagnostic units
05:57 – Dr. Tewari’s advice on leadership in healthcare
06:43 – Emphasis on patient-centered leadership and continuous learning

Conclusion

This episode offers an inside look into the future of prostate cancer care, blending scientific advancement, clinical innovation, and compassionate leadership. Dr. Tewari’s emphasis on early detection, minimally invasive intervention, and enduring patient quality of life marks a significant contribution to the field. His reflections on leadership underscore the importance of vision, adaptability, and patient-centered values in shaping tomorrow’s healthcare landscape.

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Transcript10 lines

[00:01]
A
This is Grace Lynn Keller with the Beckers Healthcare podcast and I am thrilled today to be joined by Dr. Ash Tiwari, who is a urologist and a prostate cancer specialist and a chairman of the department of Urology at Mount Sinai. So Dr. Tiwari, thanks for being here today. I'm gonna have you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit more about your background and what you're doing right now as a urologist and prostate cancer specialist.
[00:28]
B
Thanks a lot, Grace. I am a surgeon scientist who is leading the department of urology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. I also have a additional title that is surgeon in chief for an upcoming dish cancer hospital which is a multi speciality hospital being built within the Mount Sinai health system. I am actually an insurgent scientist. I started by being a surgeon and early on in the journey I realized that maybe I should learn a little bit more deeper part of the genetics of the prostate cancer and molecular imaging part of the prostate cancer. So that's where the scientist part comes. So yes, I have an administrative role. I am a surgeon who does surgeries almost every day and I am a researcher who is funded by NIH and has been funded in past with other funding agencies. So I'm a surgeon scientist.
[01:30]
A
Wonderful. Well, thank you for taking the time to be here and I'd love to start our conversation today talking about what trends you're currently watching in your space of specialty and some of the things that you're keeping an eye on right now.
[01:44]
B
So I think the prostate cancer seems to be on an increase. What they are predicting that because we are doing a great job in managing cardiac issues, cancer is rising and it may become a prominent problem for humanity. Prostate happens to be one of the commonest cancer. It is impacting about 350,000 men every year in worldwide population. It is a couple of million patients. Managing prostate cancer is the major challenge and that's what my focus has been. But the key with the prostate cancer is not just managing it, how to diagnose it, how to risk stratify it, how to know which patients actually need intervention or not. And when you do intervene, what is the best way to treat it. In prostate cancer there is another dimension which is very important, that not only that we have to treat patients with prostate cancer, but prostate cancer treatment can be very closely tied to sexuality discussion. So my main focus has been as to how to minimize deranged sexual function after treating a prostate cancer patients. And it's a journey and we have made progresses, but we are not at the finish line. So that that's been the exciting time. That's what I've been focusing, how to treat, how to avoid treatment related side effects.
[03:12]
A
And looking back at what you've been working on for the past year or two, what is something that you're particularly proud of or that has been very fruitful for you?
[03:23]
B
The way we have understood the anatomy of the prostate and how the nerves are intermingling around the prostate and what relationship nerves are having with the cancer, that work itself has been very satisfying. Tweaking the surgical approach to minimize the damage and then having your results in the six weeks after the surgery is an important milestone for us. We also have developed a very large pool of patients who are being followed for long term, what we call active monitoring of patients with prostate cancer. And we do that based on our understanding about the biopsy, the Gleason score, the imaging, the genomics and some kind of in molecular markers. And we can really avoid intervention in a large majority of patients. And that itself is in very rewarding field. I also have a calling that you don't have to just treat the prostate cancer, you can diagnose the cancer early. And many a times you don't need to intervene. With that background in mind, I have an initiative, what we call a million strong. Basically what that means is that we want to find out cancer early, when it is curable, when it is not creating any symptom. Because that is the time when you cannot just cure the cancer, but can also result in having a better quality of life in the patient. So I have created mobile units. These mobile units are equipped with the best imaging modality, with a point of care, blood testing and they go to where people live. And with that mobile unit mindset, I have been able to reach out to over 2012,000 patients in last three years. And we have just started a newer version in Emory in Atlanta and we are working on a new version in Long island area. So not only I will treat the patients, but I will try to diagnose them early so that they can avoid more intense side effects if they are found little late in metastasis. So that these are the things which I've been excited about and these are the things which I would like to people to know about.
[05:34]
A
That's wonderful. And it sounds like you've made quite an impact on your patients with these focuses and techniques and so kind of going off of that. You're a leader in your field and I would love to know what advice you would give to evolving leaders who hope to be as advanced in their career one day as you and on the cutting edge of things in the urology and prostate cancer world.
[05:57]
B
I think leadership is a very delicate topic. You lead by your actions, you lead by example, you lead by your compassion, you lead by showing people how to look at the future. And then as a leader, you have to create an opportunity, you have to create a platform, you have to create a chessboard in which everyone can kind of navigate through. As long as we keep the basic vision intact, that in healthcare we exist because we want to take care of the patients and if we can do a better job, if we can give them a lesser anxiety, if we can make their treatment less painful, and everything we can do in that journey with the people, who are the doctors, who are the nurses, who are the PAs, who are technologists, who are the administrators, and what they do is what we call them leadership. Because ultimately patient centric approach will give them to the next level in their journey. And it's all about learning, it's all about responding, it's all about retraining, and it's all about ambitions and mentorship. That's what I would call the leadership. And I'm personally learning.
[07:16]
A
Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for Joining me today, Dr. Tuari, on the Beckers Healthcare podcast and sharing these thoughts and insights with all of us today.
[07:26]
B
You're very welcome. And my greetings to your audience.