Alan Pollack, MD, PhD

Prostate and bladder cancers with an emphasis on MRI imaging assessment, prostate cancer active surveillance, MRI-guided radiation therapy, radiation hypofractionation (shortened treatments), photon and proton external beam therapy.

Dr. Pollack’s research interests have centered primarily on the management of prostate cancer with radiotherapy (RT), the role and length of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), radiation dose escalation, radiation fractionation, small molecule/gene/viral vector targeted therapy, immunomodulation, prostate cancer patient disparities, and markers of outcome (tissue biopsy, liquid biopsy and imaging markers). He co-led the genitourinary translational research program (GU TRP) in the NRG cooperative group for several years and now serves as GU TRP co-chair emeritus. He published a series of papers on biomarkers that predict response to RT ± ADT for men treated on cooperative group trials. Many of these biomarkers are potential treatment targets and some of these targets have been investigated in his laboratory. Dr. Pollack’s quantitative imaging research on men with prostate cancer has been funded by the NCI for several years. Dr. Pollack has been the PI on several clinical trials, including a current randomized trial at UM that provides the platform for quantitative imaging marker studies centered on defining prostate habitats with aggressive phenotypes associated with histopathologic factors, radiomics, and transcriptomics, and circulating tumor cells. He is also the lead PI on a national RTOG/NRG study (SPPORT, 0534) prostate cancer post-prostatectomy radiotherapy trial that successfully reached the accrual goal of over 1700 men and is pending publication.

Dr. Pollack is Professor and Chair Emeritus of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He obtained a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Miami and later graduated from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Ph.D. to M.D. program. He did an internal medicine internship at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, before doing a residency in Radiation Oncology at U.T.-M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. While at M.D. Anderson, Dr. Pollack attained the rank of Professor, was Director of the Residency Training Program and was a co-leader of the Genitourinary (GU) Cancer group before assuming the Chair in Radiation Oncology position at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia in 2001. He held that position and co-led the GU program before being recruited to Miami as Chair and Professor of Radiation Oncology and GU program co-leader in 2008. He became interim Deputy Director of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2017. He has led the effort to bring proton therapy to Sylvester. Dr. Pollack’s clinical and research interests are in the management prostate and bladder cancers.