Browsing by Author "Ruiz, Rossana"

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ALK rearrangements: Biology, detection and opportunities of therapy in non-small cell lung cancer
(Elsevier Ireland Ltd, 2019) Rosas, G; Ruiz, Rossana; Araujo, JM; Pinto, JA; Mas L, Luis
The ALK receptor tyrosine kinase (ALK) gene encodes a transmembrane protein rearranged in 2-7% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases. This gene has become the second most studied therapeutic target after EGFR due to the implied therapeutic opportunities. While the diagnostic of ALK rearrangements is well established, small molecules targeting ALK are in constant evolution because tumor cells eventually will develop mechanisms of resistance. In this review we describe the biology of the ALK gene, alterations, epidemiology, diagnostic tests as well as strategies of treatment.
Metronomic chemotherapy for non-metastatic triple negative breast cancer: Selection is the key
(Baishideng Publishing Group, 2017) Rabanal, Connie; Ruiz, Rossana; Neciosup, Silvia; Gomez, Henry L
Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 15%-20% of all breast cancer, and is still defined as what it is not. Currently, TNBC is the only type of breast cancer for which there are no approved targeted therapies and maximum tolerated dose chemotherapy with taxanes and anthracycline-containing regimens is still the standard of care in both the neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings. In the last years, metronomic chemotherapy (MC) is being explored as an alternative to improve outcomes in TNBC. In the neoadjuvant setting, purely metronomic and hybrid approaches have been developed with the objective of increasing complete pathologic response (pCR) and prolonging disease free survival. These regimens proved to be very effective achieving pCR rates between 47%-60%, but at the cost of great toxicity. In the adjuvant setting, MC is used to intensify adjuvant chemotherapy and, more promisingly, as maintenance therapy for high-risk patients, especially those with no pCR after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Considering the dismal prognosis of TNBC, any strategy that potentially improves outcomes, specially being the oral agents broadly available and inexpensive, should be considered and certainly warrants further exploration. Finally, the benefit of MC needs to be validated in properly designed clinical trials were the selection of the population is the key.