Rachna Malani
( out of 48 reviews )

Rachna Malani, MD

Languages spoken: English, Hindi, Sindhi, Spanish, Urdu

Clinical Locations

Huntsman Cancer Institute - Cancer Hospital South

Clinic 2B, Neuro-Oncology
Salt Lake City
801-585-0250

  • Rachna Malani, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Utah and an Investigator at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. She specializes in Neuro-Oncology with a focus on treating patients with gliomas, primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL), and metastatic disease to the central nervous system.

    Dr. Malani received her medical degree from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. She then did her neurology residency at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn. She then went on to do her Neuro-Oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City. Once she completed her fellowship she became an Attending physician in Neuro-Oncology at MSKCC where she practiced for several years before joining the University of Utah/Huntsman Cancer Institute.

    Dr. Malani’s research interests include clinical trial research focused on the diagnosis and treatment of metastatic disease to the central nervous system as well as treatment of gliomas. She also enjoys dedicating time to medical education with a focus on teaching medical students, residents, and fellows.

    Dr. Malani is originally from Santa Clara, California. She enjoys spending her time reading, stand up paddle boarding and traveling.

    Specialties

    Board Certification

    American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Neurology)
    United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties (Neuro-oncology)

    Patient Rating

    4.9 /5
    ( out of 48 reviews )

    The patient rating score is an average of all responses on our patient experience survey. The rating averages scores for all questions about care from our providers.

    The scale on which responses are measured is 1 to 5 with 5 being the best score.

    Patient Comments

    Patient comments are gathered from our patient experience survey and displayed in their entirety.
    Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.

    October 31, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Dr. Malani is a great Dr.

    October 21, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Dr Malanis is very kind, thorough, knowledgeable and professional.

    October 19, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Dr Malani is an amazing doctor. She is compassionate and truly listens. You can tell she cares and has a passion for what she does. She listens and I feel like a person and not just a cancer patient. I'm thankful for her being my doctor.

    July 19, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    DR. MALNANI IS THE VERY BEST!

    July 12, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Es una Doctora muy profesional en su trabajo es muy amable y muy atenta

    June 13, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    She's amazing dr

    June 08, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Very concerned about patient care, and well being beyond appointments.

    May 04, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Great to speak to patient with explaining and listening.

    May 02, 2024
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Dr Malani is wondeful.

    See More Patient Comments

  • Rachna Malani, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Utah and an Investigator at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. She specializes in Neuro-Oncology with a focus on treating patients with gliomas, primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL), and metastatic disease to the central nervous system.

    Dr. Malani received her medical degree from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. She then did her neurology residency at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn. She then went on to do her Neuro-Oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City. Once she completed her fellowship she became an Attending physician in Neuro-Oncology at MSKCC where she practiced for several years before joining the University of Utah/Huntsman Cancer Institute.

    Dr. Malani’s research interests include clinical trial research focused on the diagnosis and treatment of metastatic disease to the central nervous system as well as treatment of gliomas. She also enjoys dedicating time to medical education with a focus on teaching medical students, residents, and fellows.

    Dr. Malani is originally from Santa Clara, California. She enjoys spending her time reading, stand up paddle boarding and traveling.

    Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Neurosurgery -Primary
    Board Certification
    American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Neurology)
    United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties (Neuro-oncology)

    Education history

    Fellowship Neuro-Oncology - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Fellow
    Residency Neurology - State University of New York Downstate Medical Center Resident
    Internship Internal Medicine - State University of New York Downstate Medical Center Intern
    Professional Medical Medicine - University of Sheffield M.B.Ch.B.

    Selected Publications

    Journal Article

    1. Valerius AR, Webb MJ, Hammad N, Sener U, Malani R (2024). Cerebrospinal Fluid Liquid Biopsies in the Evaluation of Adult Gliomas. Curr Oncol Rep, 26(4), 377-390.
    2. Bian DJH, Lazaratos AM, Maritan SM, Quaiattini A, Zeng Z, Zhu Z, Sener U, Malani R, Kim YJ, Ichihara E, Cohen V, Rose AAN, Bouganim N, Dankner M (2024). Osimertinib is associated with improved outcomes in pre-treated non-small cell lung cancer leptomeningeal metastases: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Heliyon, 10(9), e29668.
    3. Bhatia A, Moreno R, Reiner AS, Nandakumar S, Walch HS, Malani R, Panageas KS, Mellinghoff IK, Bale TA, Young RJ (2024). Tumor Volume Growth as Surrogate Endpoint in IDH-mt Glioma-Response. Clin Cancer Res, 30(3), 639.
    4. Puri S, Malani R, Chalmers A, Kerrigan K, Patel SB, Monynahan K, Cannon L, Blouw B, Akerley W (2023). Keeping a track on leptomeningeal disease in non-small cell lung cancer: A single-institution experience with CNSide(TM). Neurooncol Adv, 6(1), vdad150. (Read full article)
    5. Malani R, Bhatia A, Warner AB, Yang JT (2023). Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis from Solid Tumor Malignancies: Treatment Strategies and Biomarkers. Seminars in Neurology, 43(6), 859-866. (Read full article)
    6. Bhatia A, Moreno R, Reiner AS, Nandakumar S, Walch HS, Thomas TM, Nicklin PJ, Choi Y, Skakodub A, Malani R, Prabhakaran V, Tiwari P, Diaz M, Panageas KS, Mellinghoff IK, Bale TA, Young RJ (2023). Tumor Volume Growth Rates and Doubling Times during Active Surveillance of IDH-mutant Low-Grade Glioma. Clin Cancer Res. (Read full article)
    7. Huang Y, Moreno R, Malani R, Meng A, Swinburne N, Holodny AI, Choi Y, Rusinek H, Golomb JB, George A, Parra LC, Young RJ (2022). Deep Learning Achieves Neuroradiologist-Level Performance in Detecting Hydrocephalus Requiring Treatment. J Digit Imaging, 35(6), 1662-1672. (Read full article)
    8. Yang JT, Wijetunga NA, Pentsova E, Wolden S, Young RJ, Correa D, Zhang Z, Zheng J, Steckler A, Bucwinska W, Bernstein A, Betof Warner A, Yu H, Kris MG, Seidman AD, Wilcox JA, Malani R, Lin A, DeAngelis LM, Lee NY, Powell SN, Boire A (2022). Randomized Phase II Trial of Proton Craniospinal Irradiation Versus Photon Involved-Field Radiotherapy for Patients With Solid Tumor Leptomeningeal Metastasis. J Clin Oncol, 40(33), 3858-3867. (Read full article)
    9. Ferraro E, Singh J, Patil S, Razavi P, Modi S, Chandarlapaty S, Barrio AV, Malani R, Mellinghoff IK, Boire A, Wen HY, Brogi E, Seidman AD, Norton L, Robson ME, Dang CT (2022). Incidence of brain metastases in patients with early HER2-positive breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy with trastuzumab and pertuzumab. NPJ Breast Cancer, 8(1), 37. (Read full article)
    10. Wijetunga NA, Boire A, Young RJ, Yamada Y, Wolden S, Yu H, Kris M, Seidman A, Betof-Warner A, Diaz M, Reiner A, Malani R, Pentsova E, Yang JT (2021). Quantitative cerebrospinal fluid circulating tumor cells are a potential biomarker of response for proton craniospinal irradiation for leptomeningeal metastasis. Neurooncol Adv, 3(1), vdab181. (Read full article)
    11. Ho KG, Bale T, Grommes C, Bhatia A, Malani R (2021). Use of circulating tumor DNA to guide treatment of primary central nervous system lymphoma: a case report. Neurooncol Adv, 3(1), vdab143. (Read full article)
    12. Malani R, Fleisher M, Kumthekar P, Lin X, Omuro A, Groves MD, Lin NU, Melisko M, Lassman AB, Jeyapalan S, Seidman A, Skakodub A, Boire A, DeAngelis LM, Rosenblum M, Raizer J, Pentsova E (2020). Cerebrospinal fluid circulating tumor cells as a quantifiable measurement of leptomeningeal metastases in patients with HER2 positive cancer. J Neurooncol, 148(3), 599-606. (Read full article)
    13. Gusdon AM, Nyquist PA, Torres-Lopez VM, Leasure AC, Falcone GJ, Sheth KN, Sansing LH, Hanley DF, Malani R (2019). Perihematomal Edema After Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Patients With Active Malignancy. Stroke, 51(1), 129-136. (Read full article)
    14. Gusdon AM, Cho SM, Mayasi Y, Malani R, Pttgen HA, Duffield A, Bolaos-Meade J, Lim M (2019). Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Resulting in Hemorrhagic Brain Masses After Sepsis. Neurohospitalist, 10(1), 64-68. (Read full article)
    15. Bhatia A, Birger M, Veeraraghavan H, Um H, Tixier F, McKenney AS, Cugliari M, Caviasco A, Bialczak A, Malani R, Flynn J, Zhang Z, Yang TJ, Santomasso BD, Shoushtari AN, Young RJ (2019). MRI radiomic features are associated with survival in melanoma brain metastases treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Neuro Oncol, 21(12), 1578-1586. (Read full article)
    16. Sener U, Matin N, Yu H, Lin A, Yang TJ, Malani R (2019). Radiographic appearance of leptomeningeal disease in patients with EGFR-mutated non-small-cell lung carcinoma treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors: a case series. CNS Oncol, 8(4), CNS42. (Read full article)
    17. Malani R, Bhatia A, Wolfe J, Grommes C (2019). Staging identifies non-CNS malignancies in a large cohort with newly diagnosed lymphomatous brain lesions. Leuk Lymphoma, 60(9), 2278-2282. (Read full article)
    18. Gusdon AM, Malani R, Chen X (2019). Clinical and EEG Characteristics of Ifosfamide-Related Encephalopathy. J Clin Neurophysiol, 36(2), 150-154. (Read full article)

    Review

    1. Kaplan A, Li MJ, Malani R (2022). Treatments on the Horizon: Breast Cancer Patients with Central Nervous System Metastases. [Review]. Curr Oncol Rep, 24(3), 343-350. (Read full article)
    2. Dominguez M, Malani R (2021). Stroke-Like Migraine Attacks After Radiation Therapy (SMART) Syndrome: A Comprehensive Review. [Review]. Curr Pain Headache Rep, 25(5), 33. (Read full article)

    Editorial

    1. Malani R (2020). A view on the landscape of breast cancer brain metastases. CNS Oncol, 9(3), CNS59. (Read full article)

  • Clinical Trials