Biography
Dr Mihir Shanker is a dedicated and compassionate radiation oncologist, committed to delivering exceptional care to his patients and their families. He integrates the latest evidence-based clinical practice with advanced radiation therapy techniques to deliver a personalised approach for patients under his care.
Dr Mihir Shanker is a radiation oncologist at Icon Cancer Centre sites in Redland, Greenslopes and Auchenflower. He holds a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from the University of Queensland, Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering with Honours from The University of Melbourne, Master of Philosophy (Research) and Master of Medicine (Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics) from the University of Sydney. He is also a Certified Health Informatician in Australasia (CHIA).
Dr Shanker received his specialist radiation oncologist training through the Queensland Radiation Oncology Training Network (QROTN) and was awarded Fellowship to the Royal and Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (FRANZCR) in 2022. He completed further training as the PA Research Foundation Garry Reichart Gamma Knife® and Stereotactic Fellow at the Gamma Knife® Centre of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital and completed an Advanced Radiation Oncology Fellowship at the internationally renowned University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, USA in 2023. During this tenure, Dr Shanker gained extensive experience in the use of stereotactic radiation therapy for the treatment of brain, spine, urological, gastrointestinal cancers and in the management of complex skin cancers.
He is actively involved in clinical research and trials and the education of medical students, junior doctors and radiation oncology trainees.. In collaboration with national and international clinicians, he has published in multiple peer-reviewed journals in the fields of primary brain tumours, brain metastases, spine metastases, radiomic and machine learning and upper gastrointestinal cancers. He is a peer reviewer for several radiation oncology journals, has published textbook chapters on stereotactic radiation therapy to the spine and brain radiation toxicities and presented at national and international conferences. He is currently the Co-Director of Training at Princess Alexandra Hospital.
Dr Shanker has been awarded over $950K in competitive grant funding and has been the recipient of various awards including the Gastrointestinal Society of Queensland (GESQ) 2014 Young Investigator of the Year award, PA Research Foundation Prize (2015), Uhr Clarke Examination Prize (2020), The Cooperative Trials Group in Neuro Oncology (COGNO) Young Investigator Award (2021), RANZCR Varian Prize (2021), is a co-recipient of the Harvard University President’s Innovation Challenge Prize (2023) and was awarded the 2024 International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society Young Professional Award for notable contributions to the field of radiosurgery.
Alongside his practice at Icon, Dr Shanker holds appointments as a Specialist Radiation Oncologist at the Princess Alexandra Hospital & Gamma Knife Centre of Queensland and Senior Lecturer at The University of Queensland. His clinical experience covers a broad range of solid tumour malignancies, with a special interest in stereotactic radiotherapy, skin cancer, brain and spine (CNS) tumours, upper gastrointestinal cancer, genitourinary cancer, prostate cancer and sarcoma.
Publications
Shanker, M. D., et.al. (2024). Definitive single fraction spine stereotactic radiosurgery for metastatic sarcoma: Simultaneous integrated boost is associated with high tumour control and low vertebral fracture risk. Radiotherapy and Oncology: Journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, 193, 110119.
Shanker, M. D., et.al. (2022). Gamma Knife® stereotactic radiosurgery for intracranial cavernous malformations. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, 106, 96–102.
Shanker, M. D., et.al. (2022). Stereotactic radiosurgery for melanoma brain metastases: Concurrent immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy associated with superior clinicoradiological response outcomes. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology, 66(4), 536–545.
Shanker, M. D., et.al. (2021). Stereotactic radiotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: Expanding the multidisciplinary armamentarium. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 36(4), 873–884.
Shanker, M., et.al. (2019). Re-irradiation for recurrent high-grade gliomas: a systematic review and analysis of treatment technique with respect to survival and risk of radionecrosis. Neuro-oncology Practice, 6(2), 144–155.