ASCO joins the oncology community in mourning the death of Rachna T. Shroff, MD, MS, FASCO, a renowned expert specializing in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers and a dedicated ASCO volunteer. Dr. Shroff passed away following a battle with an aggressive cancer.
Rachna T. Shroff, MD, MS, FASCO
After completing her training, Dr. Shroff spent the first 8 years of her medical career at MD Anderson Cancer Center before returning to Arizona, where she grew up, to join the faculty at the University of Arizona Comprehensive Cancer Center. Prior to her passing, she served as the Associate Director of Clinical Investigations and Co-Leader of the Gastrointestinal Clinical Research Team, a Professor with tenure in the Department of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology for the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, and Medical Director for the Oncology Service Line with Banner Health.
She was one of the foremost experts on pancreatic and biliary tract cancers; in addition to conducting her own translation research in these disease sites, she was instrumental in growing the GI clinical research program at the University of Arizona. In an interview, she expressed her belief that “it is our role and responsibility to have clinical trials available to the patients that come to see us and to ideally have a trial available to every single patient that walks through the door, to be able to offer them something cutting-edge, different, and innovative.”
In a 2024 interview with ASCO Connection, Dr. Shroff described her personal motto: “If you can’t find the sunshine, be the sunshine.” Even in the face of her own diagnosis, Dr. Shroff spent her time endeavoring to “be the sunshine” for others, actively fundraising to endow the Conquer Cancer – Rachna Shroff, MD, MS, FASCO Young Investigator Award in Biliary Cancer and support future generations of GI oncologists in launching their research careers.
Dr. Shroff was a dedicated ASCO volunteer. She was a participant in the 2021-2022 ASCO Leadership Development Program, was elected to the ASCO Nominating Committee, and served as Chair of the Cancer Communications Committee. She was active as an ASCO Daily News Associate Editor, on the ASCO Meeting & Member Publications Editorial Board, and as a peer reviewer for JCO Journals. She was highly engaged in mentoring through ASCO’s Virtual Mentoring Program, Oncology Summer Internship, and Women’s Networking Center. She contributed to numerous committees related to GI cancers, including the ASCO GI Cancers Symposium Program Committee, GI track planning for the ASCO Annual Meeting, and expert panels for GI-related guidelines.
ASCO was a true professional home for Dr. Shroff. In an interview, she said, “ASCO has been so integral in my development as a leader and as an oncologist… [It] is, in my opinion, the best professional society that I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.... [My] favorite time of day, I always say, is whenever I’m doing something for ASCO.”
ASCO sends its deepest condolences to Dr. Shroff’s husband and children, her loved ones, friends, colleagues, and patients. We are humbled by her dedication to our organization and to the field, and strive to honor her legacy of commitment and altruism. To honor Dr. Shroff and help carry her legacy forward, consider making a donation to Conquer Cancer in her memory.
