Herbert Lepor, MD

I was 6 years old when open heart surgery saved my brother’s life. It was the first of many times when I thought about becoming a doctor, so that I, too, could save someone’s life. For more than 40 years, I’ve had that opportunity. At Smilow Comprehensive Prostate Cancer Center, part of NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, I’ve treated more than 5,000 patients with prostate cancer. The majority of these men have been cured and their quality of life preserved after having their prostate gland removed through a procedure known as radical prostatectomy.

I came to NYU Langone in 1993 because I had a tremendous opportunity to build a world-class urology department here. Since then, our department has defined innovative care by improving outcomes for radical prostatectomy. For example, we now use a technique that spares the nerves, preserving function as much as possible. We also pioneered the use of MRI to diagnose and pinpoint the precise location of prostate cancer. More than 90 percent of patients who’ve needed surgery to remove the prostate at NYU Langone have reported long-term satisfaction with the outcomes.

We are at the forefront of prostate cancer research using image-guided diagnostic techniques, such as MRI, to help us determine the best treatment—whether it’s surveilling a slow-growing cancer, completely removing the prostate, or destroying one malignant area in an outpatient procedure that has virtually no treatment-related complications. I have had the pleasure of presenting these innovations at academic meetings throughout the United States and the world. 

It’s the connection we make with patients and their families that humanizes medicine in this age of technology. For this reason, I take time to listen to my patients and guide them through treatment. Every step of the way we share the decision-making process for screening, detection, and treatment of prostate cancer.