Browsing by Author "Bravo, M. Loreto"

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    Access disparities and underutilization of germline genetic testing in Chilean breast cancer patients
    (2023) Acevedo Claros, Francisco Nicolás; Walbaum García, Benjamín Vicente; Camus Appuhn, Mauricio Gonzalo; Manzor Véliz, Manuel; Muñiz Muñoz, María Sabrina; Medina Araya, Lidia; Petric Guajardo, Militza Paulina; Reyes, Paula; Domínguez, Francisco; Puschel Illanes, Klaus; Merino Lara, Tomás Rodrigo; Bravo, M. Loreto; Pinto, Mauricio P.; Ibáñez, Carolina; Hughes, Kevin; Sánchez Rojel, César Giovanni
    Purpose Latin American reports on genetic cancer risk assessments are scarce. In Chile, current breast cancer (BC) guidelines do not define strategies for germline genetic testing. Our study sought to quantify the disparities in access to genetic testing in Chilean BC patients, according to international standards and their clinical characteristics to explore improvement strategies.Methods Retrospective analysis of invasive BC databases including patients treated in a Public Hospital (PH) and in an Academic Private Center (AC) in Santiago, Chile between 2012 and 2021.Results Of 5438 BC patients, 3955 had enough data for National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) categorization. From these, 1911 (48.3%) fulfilled NCCN criteria for germline testing, of whom, 300 were tested for germline mutations and 268 with multigene panels. A total of 65 pathogenic variants were found in this subset. As expected, BRCA1/2 mutations were the most frequent (17.7%). Access to genetic testing was higher in AC versus PH (19.6% vs. 10.3%, p = 0.0001). Other variables associated with germline genetic testing were BC diagnosis after 2018, being 45 years old or younger at diagnosis, BC family history (FH), FH of ovarian cancer, non-metastatic disease, and triple-negative subtype.Conclusion In our cohort, 15% of BC patients who met NCCN criteria for germline testing were effectively tested. This percentage was even lower at the PH. Current recommendations encourage universal genetic testing for BC patients; however, our findings suggest that Chile is far from reaching such a goal and national guidelines in this regard are urgently needed. To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind in Chile and Latin America.
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    Complete response to immunotherapy plus chemotherapy after an unusual clinical response to afatinib and stereotactic radiosurgery in a patient with metastatic EGFR-mutant non–small-cell lung cancer
    (2020) Pizarro, Gonzalo; Pinto, Mauricio P.; Muñoz-Medel, Matías; Cordova-Delgado, Miguel; Bravo, M. Loreto; Nervi, Bruno; Sánchez, César; Ibañez, Carolina; Peña, José; Walbaum, Benjamín; Madrid, Jorge; Briones, Juan; Koch, Erica; Valbuena, Jose; Gonzalez, Sergio; Gejman, Roger; Acevedo, Francisco; Mondaca, Sebastian; Garrido, Marcelo; Vines, Eugenio; Galindo, Hector
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    First-line endocrine therapy for advanced breast cancer. A real-world study at a Latin American university health institution
    (TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2020) Walbaum, Benjamin; Acevedo, Francisco; Medina, Lidia; Bravo, M. Loreto; Merino, Tomas; Camus, Mauricio; Dominguez, Francisco; Mondaca, Sebastian; Galindo, Hector; Nervi, Bruno; Ibanez, Carolina; Madrid, Jorge; Pena, Jose; Koch, Erica; Garrido, Marcelo; Pinto, Mauricio P.; Sanchez, Cesar
    Objective: Clinical guidelines recommend the use of endocrine therapy (ET) in advanced hormone receptor positive (HR+) human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 negative (HER2-) breast cancer (BC) patients in the absence of visceral disease or ET resistance. Furthermore, studies indicate similar response and survival rates using ET or cytotoxic chemotherapy (CT). Methods: Herein, we assessed clinical characteristics, type of systemic therapy and survival rates of advanced HR + HER2-BC patients in our database. Results: A total of 172 advanced HR + HER2-BC patients were treated at our institution between 1997 and 2019. Sixty percent received first-line ET (4% received combined ET). Median age of this subset was 55 years (range: 30-86). Similarly, the median age of patients that received CT was 54 years (range: 21-83). Over time, 30% of patients received ET in the 2000-2005 period; this increased to 70% in the 2016-2019 period (p = .045). Overall survival (OS) was 97 months and 51 months for patients treated with ET or CT, respectively (p = .002). Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge this is the first study assessing the use of ET in Chilean advanced HR + HER2-BC patients. Several patients in our institution receive CT without indication. The increase in ET usage over time can be attributed to better and faster immunohistochemical detection methods for Estrogen Receptor (ER), changes in educational and government policies, and a wider variety of ET options. Finally, clinical trials have failed to demonstrate a substantial benefit of CT over ET in this setting.
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    High linoleic acid levels in red blood cells predict a poor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2-positive breast cancer patients
    (2024) Rodrigo Valenzuela; Walbaum García, Benjamín Vicente; Farías Castro, Camila ; Acevedo Claros, Francisco Nicolás; Vargas Añazco, Catalina Andrea; Bennett Lason, José Tomás; Bravo, M. Loreto; Pinto, Mauricio P.; Medina Araya, Lidia Marjorie; Merino Lara, Tomás Rodrigo; Ibáñez Cáceres, Carolina; Parada Daza, Alejandra Cristina; Sánchez Rojel, César Giovanni
    Objective Polyunsaturated fatty acids are categorized as ω-3 or ⍵-6. Previous studies demonstrate that breast cancers display a high expression of fatty acid synthase and high fatty acid levels. Our study sought to determine if changes in plasma or red blood cell membrane fatty acid levels were associated with the response to preoperative (neoadjuvant) chemotherapy in non-metastatic breast cancer patients.MethodsOur prospective study assessed fatty acid levels in plasma and red blood cell membrane. Response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy was evaluated by the presence or absence of pathologic complete response and/or residual cancer burden.ResultsA total of 28 patients were included. First, patients who achieved pathologic complete response had significantly higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio versus no pathologic complete response (P = 0.003). Second, total red blood cell membrane polyunsaturated fatty acids were higher in the absence of pathologic complete response (P = 0.0028). Third, total red blood cell membrane ⍵-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids were also higher in no pathologic complete response (P < 0.01). Among ⍵-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, red blood cell membrane linoleic acid was higher in the absence of pathologic complete response (P < 0.01). Notably, plasma polyunsaturated fatty acid, ⍵-6, and linoleic acid levels did not have significant differences. A multivariate analysis confirmed red blood cell membrane linoleic acid was associated with no pathologic complete response; this was further confirmed by receiver operating characteristic analysis (specificity = 92.3%, sensitivity = 76.9%, and area under the curve = 0.855).ConclusionsPending further validation, red blood cell membrane linoleic acid might serve as a predictor biomarker of poorer response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in non-metastatic human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2–positive breast cancer. Measuring fatty acids in red blood cell membrane could offer a convenient, minimally invasive strategy to identifying patients more likely to respond or those with chemoresistance.
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    Pathological complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, but not the addition of carboplatin, is associated with improved survival in Chilean triple negative breast cancer patients: a report of real world data
    (2021) Walbaum, Benjamin; Acevedo, Francisco; Median, Lidia; Bravo, M. Loreto; Merino, Tomas; Camus, Mauricio; Dominguez, Francisco; Mondaca, Sebastián; Galindo, Héctor; Nervi, Bruno; Ibañez, Carolina; Madrid, Jorge; Muñiz, Sabrina; Peña, José; Koch, Érica; Garrido, Marcelo; Pinto, Mauricio P.; Sánchez, César
    Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of cancer death for Chilean women. About 11% of cases are triple-negative (TN) BC. These are characterised by poor prognosis, higher risk of early recurrence and visceral dissemination versus other BC subtypes. Current standard treatment for early-stage non-metastatic TNBC patients consists of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) followed by surgery and radiotherapy. Pathological complete response (pCR) to NACT is associated with an increase in survival rates. In general, NACT and adjuvant regimens involve similar cytotoxic drugs. Recent studies have postulated that the use of platinum compounds in TNBC would increase response rates. However, their effects on patient survival remain uncertain. Materials and methods: We retrieved and analysed medical records from a total of 156 Chilean stage I–III TNBC female patients that received NACT and compared survival rates using carboplatin (Cb)-containing versus non-Cb-containing regimens at two health cancer centres. Results: Median age was 51 years (range: 24–81); 13.5% (n = 21) received Cb-containing regimens, 80.1% (n = 125) received sequential anthracyclines plus taxanes; 29.5% (n = 46) of the total group achieved pCR, 28% for the standard treatment and 35% (n = 8) for the Cb-containing group (p = 0.59). We confirmed pCR was associated with prolonged overall survival, invasive and distant disease-free survival (Log-rank p = 0.0236). But the addition of Cb was not associated with differences in survival measures (Log-rank p = 0.5216). Conclusions: To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first report on real-world data in the Chilean population assessing the effect of Cb-containing NACT in TNBC. The authors’ results suggest no survival benefit by the addition of Cb to standard NACT. However, we confirm an increase in survival associated to pCR regardless of treatment.