MIAMI, FLORIDA (SEPT. 26, 2024) – When Brandon Mahal, M.D., presents at the Presidential Symposium at this year’s American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) meeting Sept. 29, he’ll discuss a leading-edge approach to targeted radiation treatment for prostate cancer – microboosting.
This innovative method uses MRI imaging to identify cancerous regions in the prostate gland and deliver high-dose radiation directly to the tumor, sparing healthy parts of the gland. The method, when combined with lower dose radiation to the entire prostate, results in better outcomes without increasing side effects.
Mahal, who is vice chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology and program director for the department’s clinical residency training program at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has made important insights into racial disparities in prostate cancer that are now informing national guidelines on screening and prevention.
As a physician, he treats prostate cancer patients at Sylvester with the latest advances in radiation oncology. As a scientist, he is passionate about uncovering and combatting health inequities in prostate cancer, particularly those that disproportionately affect Black men.
‘A Noble Way to Give Back’
Although Mahal lives and works thousands of miles from his hometown in central California, his work is now making an impact in his community and those like it.
He grew up in a low-income, predominantly Hispanic agricultural community in Madera, California, in a neighborhood with high crime rates and gang activity. Both of his older brothers were gang members and ended up in prison, having dropped out of school. With family support and his own determination, Mahal stayed focused in school and went to college at UCLA, then moved across the country to enroll in medical school at Harvard.
He also spent some of his childhood caring for his grandmother, who had diabetes and later died of lung cancer.
“I remember going to those doctor’s appointments with her and seeing that the doctor was someone who could help us and help our family, and that stuck with me,” he said. “I always knew I wanted to give back to my community, and I saw being a physician as a very noble way to give back.”
A Focus on Prostate Cancer Disparities
Early on in his training, Mahal opted to focus on prostate cancer because it is so common and because it represents one of the largest health disparities among cancer types in the U.S., especially for Black men.
Before starting his residency in radiation oncology, he spent a year doing research at Harvard and developed a niche in cancer inequities with a focus on prostate cancer. At the time, not many people were studying racial disparities in prostate cancer, and he encountered skepticism about the direction of his scientific vision. Today, though, the study of racial disparities in this specialty is a growing field, and Mahal is gratified to have played a role in helping bring these inequities to the forefront.
His work is part of several national guidelines and committees and has helped influence national policy. One landmark study published last year in The Lancet Digital Health showed that differences in patient care, not genetics, are likely the underlying cause of disparities in outcomes for prostate cancer in men of African descent versus men of European descent.
Read more about Mahal’s research on Sylvester’s InventUM blog, and follow us on X for the latest in cancer research findings.
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