abstract: 'Background: Anti-cancer cytotoxic treatments like platinum-derived

  compounds often show low therapeutic efficacy, high-risk side effects

  and resistance. Hence, targeted treatments designed to attack only

  tumour cells avoiding these harmful side effects are highly needed in

  clinical practice. Due to this, precision oncology has arisen as an

  approach to specifically target alterations present only in cancer

  cells, minimising side effects for patients. It involves the use of

  molecular biomarkers present in each kind of tumour for diagnosis,

  prognosis and treatment. Since these biomarkers are specific for each

  cancer type, physicians use them to stratify, diagnose or take the best

  therapeutic options for each patient depending on the features of the

  specific tumour.

  Aim: This review aims to describe the current situation, limitations,

  advantages and perspectives about precision oncology in Latin America.

  Main body: For many years, many biomarkers have been used in a clinical

  setting in developed countries. However, in Latin American countries,

  their broad application has not been affordable partially due to

  financial and technical limitations associated with precarious health

  systems and poor access of low-income populations to quality health

  care. Furthermore, the genetic mixture in Latin American populations

  could generate differences in treatment responses from one population to

  another (pharmacoethnicity) and this should be evaluated before

  establishing precision therapy in particular populations. Some research

  groups in the region have done a lot of work in this field and these

  data should be taken as a starting point to establish networks oriented

  to finding clinically useful cancer biomarkers in Latin American

  populations.

  Conclusion: Latin America must create policies allowing excluded

  populations to gain access to health systems and next generation

  anti-cancer drugs, i.e. high-cost targeted therapies to improve

  survival. Also, cancer clinical research must be oriented to establish

  cancer biomarkers adapted to specific populations with different

  ethnicity, allowing the improvement of patient outcomes.'
affiliation: 'Orue, A (Corresponding Author), IVIC, Ctr Microbiol, Tumor Cell Biol
  Lab, Caracas 1020A, Venezuela.

  Calderon-Auaricio, Ali; Orue, Andrea, IVIC, Ctr Microbiol, Tumor Cell Biol Lab,
  Caracas 1020A, Venezuela.'
article-number: '920'
author: Calderon-Auaricio, Ali and Orue, Andrea
author-email: andreaorue@gmail.com
author_list:
- family: Calderon-Auaricio
  given: Ali
- family: Orue
  given: Andrea
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2019.920
files: []
issn: 1754-6605
journal: ECANCERMEDICALSCIENCE
keywords: 'precision oncology; biomarkers; cancer; targeted therapy; access to

  health care; Latin America'
keywords-plus: 'CELL LUNG-CANCER; ANDROGEN RECEPTOR; PERSONALIZED MEDICINE; OPEN-LABEL;

  METHYLATION; EPIGENOMICS; MUTATIONS; THERAPY; DRUGS; EGFR'
language: English
month: APR 3
number-of-cited-references: '78'
orcid-numbers: Calderon-Aparicio, Ali/0000-0003-0656-1434
papis_id: fc9d7da5e3f031b464597b9888d132ba
ref: Calderonauaricio2019precisiononcology
times-cited: '7'
title: 'Precision oncology in Latin America: current situation, challenges and perspectives'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000464006000001
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '2'
volume: '13'
web-of-science-categories: Oncology
year: '2019'