Mahla is, well... Hebrew for cancer (full word yena mahla). And
Mahala seems to be "illness".
I am trying to find if Mahla,
Mahala and
Mahalia are used in Hebrew knowing circles, but it seems to be only used by those chosing Biblical names without knowing their meaning...
But you have
Mala, a Yiddish short form of
Malka. Pronunced mah-lah. Also Mali (mah-lee)
http://www.behindthename.com/submit/view.php?name=maliMalinka (mah-leen-kah), pet form of
Amalia /
Malka.