Dr. Rachna Shroff, an internationally recognized oncologist and researcher who helped pioneer new treatment options for rare bile duct cancers, has died at 47, the University of Arizona announced Monday.
University officials stated that Shroff had been living with a life-limiting cancer, though the institution did not disclose the precise cause of death. The American Society of Clinical Oncology reported that she died after a battle with an aggressive cancer.
Shroff served as chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Tucson and associate director of clinical investigations at the University of Arizona Cancer Center. She was also the inaugural John F. and Valli S. Duval Endowed Professor for Gastrointestinal Oncology, associate dean for clinical and translational research, and medical director of the oncology service line at Banner Health.
A Pioneer in Gastrointestinal Oncology
Widely regarded as a leading authority on cholangiocarcinoma—a rare and aggressive cancer that forms in the bile ducts—Shroff dedicated much of her medical career to finding effective therapies for illnesses that historically had few viable treatments. She authored more than 80 scientific publications, delivered over 130 professional presentations, and led clinical trials examining targeted therapies and immunological approaches to pancreatic and hepatobiliary cancers.
After returning to Arizona in 2018, Shroff prioritized widening access to clinical trials for patients across southern Arizona, according to Diya TV and The ASCO Post. She maintained that every patient should have access to cutting-edge research opportunities, telling ASCO that clinicians have a responsibility to offer innovative therapies to anyone walking through their clinic doors.
Colleagues and professional organizations remembered her commitment to patients and the broader medical community. In a tribute, the University of Arizona Cancer Center described her as an internationally revered clinician-scientist whose work reshaped gastrointestinal oncology. She co-chaired the Hepatobiliary Subcommittee of the Southwest Oncology Group and served as chair of the GI ASCO 2024 conference.
Early Beginnings and a Lasting Legacy
Raised in Tucson by a biochemist father and a nephrologist mother, Shroff discovered her passion for laboratory research early in life. As a high school student in 1993, she earned an Osler Fellowship that allowed her to train in a University of Arizona Cancer Center laboratory. She later completed her undergraduate education at Brown University before earning her medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University.
In 2010, Shroff completed a medical oncology fellowship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She served on the MD Anderson faculty for eight years before returning to her hometown in 2018 to join the faculty in Tucson.
Even while confronting her own diagnosis, Shroff remained dedicated to mentoring and supporting cancer research. In September, she established the Conquer Cancer–Rachna Shroff FASCO Endowed Young Investigator Award in Biliary Cancers. More than 600 donors contributed to the campaign, raising upwards of $1.35 million within weeks to fund early-career physicians studying bile duct malignancies, according to reports from Diya TV and The Tribune.
Shroff credited an early-career grant from Conquer Cancer with launching her research trajectory and aimed to ensure future investigators had similar opportunities. Friends and colleagues recalled her guiding motto, which she shared in a 2024 interview: “If you can’t find the sunshine, be the sunshine.”
Shroff is survived by her husband, Dr. Puneet Shroff, a physician and professor of medicine; their children, Simran and Sachin; her parents, Devendar Trivedi and Dr. Amita Trivedi; and her sister, Neema Sahni.
