Bio

Dr. Yuan James Rao is an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology, and Co-Director of Proton Therapy at Stanford University. In 2026, Dr. Rao co-led the team at Stanford that treated the world’s first pediatric and adult patients with ultra-compact upright proton therapy. Dr. Rao’s professional goal is to develop the world’s most advanced proton therapy program at Stanford University.

Proton therapy is a remarkable form of radiation treatment that uses heavy charged particles (protons) accelerated to approximately two-thirds the speed of light. The unique physics of protons allows the radiation to stop within a defined distance in the body, whereas standard x-ray therapy continues to deposit radiation after treating the tumor (known as “exit dose”). By reducing exit dose, protons may reduce normal tissue exposure to radiation, which is particularly beneficial for children and young adults with cancer, and patients requiring a second course of radiation. Dr. Rao currently coordinates the Stanford Radiation Oncology Department’s clinical, research, and education efforts related to proton therapy.

Dr. Rao’s clinical practice focuses on the care of patients with Head and Neck cancer, and Thoracic cancers. His goal is to provide the highest quality care to his patients, using the most appropriate technology. This may include proton therapy but also potentially other techniques such as intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), stereotactic body radiation (SBRT), MR-guided radiotherapy, 3D conformal radiotherapy, or other technologies. Nearly all radiation technologies are available at Stanford University, and thus Dr. Rao and his Radiation Oncology colleagues are well positioned to choose the best treatment for every patient.

Dr. Rao trained at the prestigious Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University in St. Louis, and during residency was among the first physicians in the world to use the Mevion S250 proton therapy device and the ViewRay MRI-guided radiotherapy device. Dr. Rao has traveled to UCSF, MD Anderson, Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania, Medical University of Vienna, and University Medical Center Utrecht to learn about various advanced radiotherapy techniques including MR-guided radiotherapy, brachytherapy, and proton therapy.

Prior to his role at Stanford, Dr. Rao was a physician at George Washington University in Washington, DC and held the positions of Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Biomedical Engineering (by courtesy), and Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery (by courtesy). He was also the founding Director of Brachytherapy, and implemented programs for gyn, head and neck, prostate, and skin radiation implants using high dose rate (HDR) techniques. He was honored as a Washingtonian Top Doctor for each of the years that he practiced in DC, and Dr. Rao has treated members of Congress with radiotherapy (public information).

Dr. Rao is a prolific researcher with more than 50 peer-reviewed publications. He is an expert in proton therapy, head and neck cancer, thorax cancers, gyn cancers, GU cancers, brachytherapy, artificial intelligence, machine learning, image analysis and large database "big data." He is co-author of the ‘Endometrial Cancer’ chapter of the 8th edition of Perez and Brady’s Principles and Practice of Radiation Oncology, the world’s most widely used reference textbook in the field. He regularly gives invited talks nationally and internationally. Dr. Rao has been grant funded by the American Cancer Society.

Dr. Rao is a respected educator and mentor, and has taught numerous engineering/physics students, medical students and residents; many of whom have gone on to become successful physicists, scientists, entrepreneurs, and physicians.

Clinical Focus

  • Radiation Oncology

Academic Appointments

Administrative Appointments

  • Member and University Representative, Radiation Oncology Education Collaborative Study Group (2019 - Present)
  • Associate Director of Proton Therapy, Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine (2025 - Present)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • Member, ASTRO (2014 - Present)
  • Member, ABS (2019 - Present)

Professional Education

  • Board Certification: American Board of Radiology, Radiation Oncology (2019)
  • Residency: Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology Washington University (2018) MO
  • Internship: Mercy Hospital St Louis Transitional Year (2014) MO
  • Medical Education: Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine (2013) MO

Contact

  • Clinical (Primary)  Department of Radiation Oncology 875 Blake Wilbur Dr MC 5847 Stanford, CA 94305 (650) 725-8231 (fax)

Additional Clinical Info

Additional Info

Clinical Trials

  • UPRIGHT-PRO: Prospective Development Study of Upright Proton Therapy Recruiting

    This study is being done to evaluate whether cancer patients can safely and reliably receive proton radiation therapy while positioned upright. Proton therapy is an established form of radiation treatment, and the upright treatment system used in this study has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The intent of this protocol is to observe the treatment methods, doses, and outcomes for the initial cohorts of patients treated with this upright device. This study will support research activities and evaluate feasibility as needed. Results of this study will be reported in the scientific literature but the investigators do not intend to report to the FDA for a new use or indication or change to the labeling; nor are the investigators required to do so.

    View full details

All Publications

  • Risk Factors and Treatment Outcomes in Metastatic Prostate Cancer With Brain Metastases. Clinical genitourinary cancer Xu, V. E., Wang, J., Bernardo, R. C., Wang, M., Whalen, M. J., Jain, M., Estephan, F., Daggubati, L., Goyal, S., Rao, Y. J. 2026: 102600

    Abstract

    Prostate cancer with brain metastases (PCBM) is rare and carries a poor prognosis. However, the risk factors and optimal treatment strategies for PCBM are poorly understood.The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was queried for patients diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer (mPCa) from 2010 to 2021. Demographics, tumor characteristics, and treatments were compared between patients with and without PCBM. PCBM incidence and risk factors were assessed with temporal analysis and multivariable logistic regression. Overall survival (OS) was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards models. Subgroup analyses examined combinations of systemic and local treatments including surgery of metastasis sites, whole brain radiation (WBRT), and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).Of 101,900 patients with mPCa, 1144 (1.1%) had PCBM. No significant temporal increase in PCBM incidence was observed. Neuroendocrine (NE) histology (aOR: 3.92, 95%CI: 1.09-14.13), liver metastases (aOR: 2.86, 95%CI: 1.68-8.84), and other peripheral organ metastases (aOR: 2.47, 95%CI: 1.10-5.54) were independently associated with PCBM risk. Patients with PCBM had worse OS (15.1 vs 32.6 months, P < .001). Immunotherapy and hormone therapy were associated with significantly improved OS compared to hormone therapy alone (42.6 vs 17.2 months, P = .002). In multivariable analysis, immunotherapy had a positive OS benefit (aHR = 0.20, 95%CI: 0.05-0.75) while WBRT was associated with worse survival (aHR = 3.38, 95%CI: 1.69-6.76). Chemotherapy, surgery, and SRS had no significant OS benefit after controlling for confounding.PCBM is associated with aggressive disease features such as NE histology. Durable survival appears primarily dependent on systemic disease control, with local therapies potentially offering additional benefit in select cases. These findings underscore the need for molecular stratification and advocate for the inclusion of PCBM patients in future clinical trials.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.clgc.2026.102600

    View details for PubMedID 42476860

  • Radiotherapy in Men with De Novo Metastatic Prostate Cancer. The Urologic clinics of North America Messing, I., Rao, Y. J., Goyal, S. 2026; 53 (2): 285-301

    Abstract

    Systemic therapy intensification has improved outcomes for patients with de novo metastatic prostate cancer. Retrospective studies highlighted the benefits of radiotherapy to the local tumor, prompting prospective evaluation via the HORRAD, STAMPEDE, and PEACE-1 trials. While the HORRAD trial suggested a trend toward improved survival, the STAMPEDE trial demonstrated a statistically significant overall survival benefit in patients with lower-risk or lower-volume disease. The PEACE-1 trial investigated local radiotherapy in the era of intensified systemic therapy. Benefits including improved radiographic progression-free survival, castrate resistance-free survival, and genitourinary side effects make local radiotherapy a valuable therapy for subgroups of patients.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ucl.2026.02.011

    View details for PubMedID 41986024

  • Clinical characteristics, racial inequities, and outcomes in patients with breast cancer and COVID-19: a COVID-19 and cancer consortium (CCC19) cohort study. eLife Nagaraj, G., Vinayak, S., Khaki, A. R., Sun, T., Kuderer, N. M., Aboulafia, D. M., Acoba, J. D., Awosika, J., Bakouny, Z., Balmaceda, N. B., Bao, T., Bashir, B., Berg, S., Bilen, M. A., Bindal, P., Blau, S., Bodin, B. E., Borno, H. T., Castellano, C., Choi, H., Deeken, J., Desai, A., Edwin, N., Feldman, L. E., Flora, D. B., Friese, C. R., Galsky, M. D., Gonzalez, C. J., Grivas, P., Gupta, S., Haynam, M., Heilman, H., Hershman, D. L., Hwang, C., Jani, C., Jhawar, S. R., Joshi, M., Kaklamani, V., Klein, E. J., Knox, N., Koshkin, V. S., Kulkarni, A. A., Kwon, D. H., Labaki, C., Lammers, P. E., Lathrop, K. I., Lewis, M. A., Li, X., Lopes, G. d., Lyman, G. H., Makower, D. F., Mansoor, A. H., Markham, M. J., Mashru, S. H., McKay, R. R., Messing, I., Mico, V., Nadkarni, R., Namburi, S., Nguyen, R. H., Nonato, T. K., O'Connor, T. L., Panagiotou, O. A., Park, K., Patel, J. M., Patel, K. G., Peppercorn, J., Polimera, H., Puc, M., Rao, Y. J., Razavi, P., Reid, S. A., Riess, J. W., Rivera, D. R., Robson, M., Rose, S. J., Russ, A. D., Schapira, L., Shah, P. K., Shanahan, M. K., Shapiro, L. C., Smits, M., Stover, D. G., Streckfuss, M., Tachiki, L., Thompson, M. A., Tolaney, S. M., Weissmann, L. B., Wilson, G., Wotman, M. T., Wulff-Burchfield, E. M., Mishra, S., French, B., Warner, J. L., Lustberg, M. B., Accordino, M. K., Shah, D. P. 2023; 12

    Abstract

    Background: Limited information is available for patients with breast cancer (BC) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially among underrepresented racial/ethnic populations. Methods: This is a COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) registry-based retrospective cohort study of females with active or history of BC and laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection diagnosed between March 2020 and June 2021 in the US. Primary outcome was COVID-19 severity measured on a five-level ordinal scale, including none of the following complications, hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation, and all-cause mortality. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression model identified characteristics associated with COVID-19 severity. Results: 1,383 female patient records with BC and COVID-19 were included in the analysis, the median age was 61 years, and median follow-up was 90 days. Multivariable analysis revealed higher odds of COVID-19 severity for older age (aOR per decade, 1.48 [95% CI, 1.32 -1.67]); Black patients (aOR 1.74; 95 CI 1.24-2.45), Asian Americans and Pacific Islander patients (aOR 3.40; 95 CI 1.70 - 6.79) and Other (aOR 2.97; 95 CI 1.71-5.17) racial/ethnic groups; worse ECOG performance status (ECOG PS ≥2: aOR, 7.78 [95% CI, 4.83 - 12.5]); pre-existing cardiovascular (aOR, 2.26 [95% CI, 1.63 - 3.15])/pulmonary comorbidities (aOR, 1.65 [95% CI, 1.20 - 2.29]); diabetes mellitus (aOR, 2.25 [95% CI, 1.66 - 3.04]); and active and progressing cancer (aOR, 12.5 [95% CI, 6.89 - 22.6]). Hispanic ethnicity, timing and type of anti-cancer therapy modalities were not significantly associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes. The total all-cause mortality and hospitalization rate for the entire cohort was 9% and 37%, respectively however, it varied according to the BC disease status. Conclusions: Using one of the largest registries on cancer and COVID-19, we identified patient and BC related factors associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes. After adjusting for baseline characteristics, underrepresented racial/ethnic patients experienced worse outcomes compared to Non-Hispanic White patients. Funding: This study was partly supported by National Cancer Institute grant number P30 CA068485 to Tianyi Sun, Sanjay Mishra, Benjamin French, Jeremy L. Warner; P30-CA046592 to Christopher R. Friese; P30 CA023100 for Rana R McKay; P30-CA054174 for Pankil K. Shah and Dimpy P. Shah; and the American Cancer Society and Hope Foundation for Cancer Research (MRSG-16-152-01 -CCE) and P30-CA054174 for Dimpy P. Shah. REDCap is developed and supported by Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research grant support (UL1 TR000445 from NCATS/NIH). The funding sources had no role in the writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit it for publication. Clinical Trial Number: CCC19 registry is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04354701.

    View details for DOI 10.7554/eLife.82618

    View details for PubMedID 37846664

  • Clinical Characteristics, Racial Inequities, and Outcomes in Patients with Breast Cancer and COVID-19: A COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) Cohort Study. medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences Nagaraj, G., Vinayak, S., Khaki, A. R., Sun, T., Kuderer, N. M., Aboulafia, D. M., Acoba, J. D., Awosika, J., Bakouny, Z., Balmaceda, N. B., Bao, T., Bashir, B., Berg, S., Bilen, M. A., Bindal, P., Blau, S., Bodin, B. E., Borno, H. T., Castellano, C., Choi, H., Deeken, J., Desai, A., Edwin, N., Feldman, L. E., Flora, D. B., Friese, C. R., Galsky, M. D., Gonzalez, C. J., Grivas, P., Gupta, S., Haynam, M., Heilman, H., Hershman, D. L., Hwang, C., Jani, C., Jhawar, S. R., Joshi, M., Kaklamani, V., Klein, E. J., Knox, N., Koshkin, V. S., Kulkarni, A. A., Kwon, D. H., Labaki, C., Lammers, P. E., Lathrop, K. I., Lewis, M. A., Li, X., de Lima Lopes, G., Lyman, G. H., Makower, D. F., Mansoor, A. H., Markham, M. J., Mashru, S. H., McKay, R. R., Messing, I., Mico, V., Nadkarni, R., Namburi, S., Nguyen, R. H., Nonato, T. K., O'Connor, T. L., Panagiotou, O. A., Park, K., Patel, J. M., Patel, K. G., Peppercorn, J., Polimera, H., Puc, M., Rao, Y. J., Razavi, P., Reid, S. A., Riess, J. W., Rivera, D. R., Robson, M., Rose, S. J., Russ, A. D., Schapira, L., Shah, P. K., Shanahan, M. K., Shapiro, L. C., Smits, M., Stover, D. G., Streckfuss, M., Tachiki, L., Thompson, M. A., Tolaney, S. M., Weissmann, L. B., Wilson, G., Wotman, M. T., Wulff-Burchfield, E. M., Mishra, S., French, B., Warner, J. L., Lustberg, M. B., Accordino, M. K., Shah, D. P. 2023

    Abstract

    Limited information is available for patients with breast cancer (BC) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially among underrepresented racial/ethnic populations.This is a COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) registry-based retrospective cohort study of females with active or history of BC and laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection diagnosed between March 2020 and June 2021 in the US. Primary outcome was COVID-19 severity measured on a five-level ordinal scale, including none of the following complications, hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation, and all-cause mortality. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression model identified characteristics associated with COVID-19 severity.1,383 female patient records with BC and COVID-19 were included in the analysis, the median age was 61 years, and median follow-up was 90 days. Multivariable analysis revealed higher odds of COVID-19 severity for older age (aOR per decade, 1.48 [95% CI, 1.32 - 1.67]); Black patients (aOR 1.74; 95 CI 1.24-2.45), Asian Americans and Pacific Islander patients (aOR 3.40; 95 CI 1.70 - 6.79) and Other (aOR 2.97; 95 CI 1.71-5.17) racial/ethnic groups; worse ECOG performance status (ECOG PS ≥2: aOR, 7.78 [95% CI, 4.83 - 12.5]); pre-existing cardiovascular (aOR, 2.26 [95% CI, 1.63 - 3.15])/pulmonary comorbidities (aOR, 1.65 [95% CI, 1.20 - 2.29]); diabetes mellitus (aOR, 2.25 [95% CI, 1.66 - 3.04]); and active and progressing cancer (aOR, 12.5 [95% CI, 6.89 - 22.6]). Hispanic ethnicity, timing and type of anti-cancer therapy modalities were not significantly associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes. The total all-cause mortality and hospitalization rate for the entire cohort was 9% and 37%, respectively however, it varied according to the BC disease status.Using one of the largest registries on cancer and COVID-19, we identified patient and BC related factors associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes. After adjusting for baseline characteristics, underrepresented racial/ethnic patients experienced worse outcomes compared to Non-Hispanic White patients.

    View details for DOI 10.1101/2023.03.09.23287038

    View details for PubMedID 37205429

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC10187350

  • Machine Learning Algorithm Accuracy Using Single- versus Multi-Institutional Image Data in the Classification of Prostate MRI Lesions APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL Provenzano, D., Melnyk, O., Imtiaz, D., McSweeney, B., Nemirovsky, D., Wynne, M., Whalen, M., Rao, Y., Loew, M., Haji-Momenian, S. 2023; 13 (2)

    View details for DOI 10.3390/app13021088

    View details for Web of Science ID 000914485600001

  • Interplay of Immunosuppression and Immunotherapy Among Patients With Cancer and COVID-19. JAMA oncology Bakouny, Z., Labaki, C., Grover, P., Awosika, J., Gulati, S., Hsu, C. Y., Alimohamed, S. I., Bashir, B., Berg, S., Bilen, M. A., Bowles, D., Castellano, C., Desai, A., Elkrief, A., Eton, O. E., Fecher, L. A., Flora, D., Galsky, M. D., Gatti-Mays, M. E., Gesenhues, A., Glover, M. J., Gopalakrishnan, D., Gupta, S., Halfdanarson, T. R., Hayes-Lattin, B., Hendawi, M., Hsu, E., Hwang, C., Jandarov, R., Jani, C., Johnson, D. B., Joshi, M., Khan, H., Khan, S. A., Knox, N., Koshkin, V. S., Kulkarni, A. A., Kwon, D. H., Matar, S., McKay, R. R., Mishra, S., Moria, F. A., Nizam, A., Nock, N. L., Nonato, T. K., Panasci, J., Pomerantz, L., Portuguese, A. J., Provenzano, D., Puc, M., Rao, Y. J., Rhodes, T. D., Riely, G. J., Ripp, J. J., Rivera, A. V., Ruiz-Garcia, E., Schmidt, A. L., Schoenfeld, A. J., Schwartz, G. K., Shah, S. A., Shaya, J., Subbiah, S., Tachiki, L. M., Tucker, M. D., Valdez-Reyes, M., Weissmann, L. B., Wotman, M. T., Wulff-Burchfield, E. M., Xie, Z., Yang, Y. J., Thompson, M. A., Shah, D. P., Warner, J. L., Shyr, Y., Choueiri, T. K., Wise-Draper, T. M. 2022

    Abstract

    Cytokine storm due to COVID-19 can cause high morbidity and mortality and may be more common in patients with cancer treated with immunotherapy (IO) due to immune system activation.To determine the association of baseline immunosuppression and/or IO-based therapies with COVID-19 severity and cytokine storm in patients with cancer.This registry-based retrospective cohort study included 12 046 patients reported to the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) registry from March 2020 to May 2022. The CCC19 registry is a centralized international multi-institutional registry of patients with COVID-19 with a current or past diagnosis of cancer. Records analyzed included patients with active or previous cancer who had a laboratory-confirmed infection with SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction and/or serologic findings.Immunosuppression due to therapy; systemic anticancer therapy (IO or non-IO).The primary outcome was a 5-level ordinal scale of COVID-19 severity: no complications; hospitalized without requiring oxygen; hospitalized and required oxygen; intensive care unit admission and/or mechanical ventilation; death. The secondary outcome was the occurrence of cytokine storm.The median age of the entire cohort was 65 years (interquartile range [IQR], 54-74) years and 6359 patients were female (52.8%) and 6598 (54.8%) were non-Hispanic White. A total of 599 (5.0%) patients received IO, whereas 4327 (35.9%) received non-IO systemic anticancer therapies, and 7120 (59.1%) did not receive any antineoplastic regimen within 3 months prior to COVID-19 diagnosis. Although no difference in COVID-19 severity and cytokine storm was found in the IO group compared with the untreated group in the total cohort (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.80; 95% CI, 0.56-1.13, and aOR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.41-1.93, respectively), patients with baseline immunosuppression treated with IO (vs untreated) had worse COVID-19 severity and cytokine storm (aOR, 3.33; 95% CI, 1.38-8.01, and aOR, 4.41; 95% CI, 1.71-11.38, respectively). Patients with immunosuppression receiving non-IO therapies (vs untreated) also had worse COVID-19 severity (aOR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.36-2.35) and cytokine storm (aOR, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.42-3.79).This cohort study found that in patients with cancer and COVID-19, administration of systemic anticancer therapies, especially IO, in the context of baseline immunosuppression was associated with severe clinical outcomes and the development of cytokine storm.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04354701.

    View details for DOI 10.1001/jamaoncol.2022.5357

    View details for PubMedID 36326731

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9938-2197