Sandra Luna-Fineman, MD
Associate Professor, Pediatrics-Heme/Onc and Bone Marrow Transplantation

Professional Titles

• Center for Global Health, CU Anschutz, member
• Consultant, St Jude Global Medicine, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis TN
• Consultant, WHO NCD, Global Childhood Cancer Initiative

Recognition & Awards

• SIOP Leadership Award in Paediatric Global Oncology, International Society of Pediatric Oncology (2020)
• SIOP Award for Best Lymphoma, International Society of Pediatric Oncology (2017)
• SIOP Global (International Society of Pediatric Oncology) Award for Best Pediatric Oncology low-income countries presentation, International Society of Pediatric Oncology (2014)
• Social Mover, Social Award, Guatemala Central government, Guatemala (2004)
• Fulbright Scholar, Cancer in LMIC (Guatemala), Fulbright (1999)
  Childhood Cancer in LMIC (Guatemala)
• Pacific Rim Research Project Scholarship, University of California, Berkely (1994)
• Stanford Immunology Training Grant, NIH (1990)
  AI07290, NIH
• National Research Service Award (NRSA), NIH (1984)

Research Interests

Teaching

Publications

• Luna-Fineman S, Castellanos M, Metzger ML, Baez LF, Peña Hernandez A, Bonilla M, Fuentes-Alabi S, Nieves R, Blanco J, Rossi E, Devidas M, Chen Y, Arreola M, de Alarcon PA. Treatment of high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma with a modified Stanford V regimen in the AHOPCA: Substituting chemotherapy agents and hampered outcomes. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2024 Feb;71(2):e30792. PubMed PMID: 38053237
• Graff Z, Giron V, Miller K, Pixtun D, Alejos A, Luna-Fineman S. Toxicity and feasibility of vincristine, etoposide, and carboplatin alternating with vincristine, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide in children with advanced retinoblastoma in Guatemala. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2023 Jul;70(7):e30392. PubMed PMID: 37132129
• Fabian ID, Khetan V, Stacey AW, Allen Foster, Ademola-Popoola DS, Berry JL, Cassoux N, Chantada GL, Hessissen L, Kaliki S, Kivelä TT, Luna-Fineman S, Munier FL, Reddy MA, Rojanaporn D, Blum S, Sherief ST, Staffieri SE, Theophile T, Waddell K, Ji X, Astbury NJ, Bascaran C, Burton M, Zondervan M, Bowman R. Sex, gender, and retinoblastoma: analysis of 4351 patients from 153 countries. Eye (Lond). 2022 Aug;36(8):1571-1577. PubMed PMID: 34272514
• Villanueva G, Sampor C, Palma J, Villarroel M, Valencia D, Lombardi MG, Garcia WG, Caceres EL, Sobrero V, Garcia L, Cabrera V, Maza I, Velasquez T, Ugaz C, Vasquez JM, Coronado RD, Gonzalez N, Aguiar S, Dabezies A, Moreno F, Sardinas S, Gamboa Y, Maradiegue E, Fu L, Gassant P, Moreno K, Gonzales O, Schelotto M, Luna-Fineman S, Antoneli CG, Fuentes-Alabi S, Luciani S, Cappellano A, Chantada G, Vasquez L. Impact of COVID-19 in pediatric oncology care in Latin America during the first year of the pandemic. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2022 Oct;69(10):e29748. PubMed PMID: 35593012
• Das A, Sudhaman S, Morgenstern D, Coblentz A, Chung J, Stone SC, Alsafwani N, Liu ZA, Karsaneh OAA, Soleimani S, Ladany H, Chen D, Zatzman M, Cabric V, Nobre L, Bianchi V, Edwards M, Sambira Nahum LC, Ercan AB, Nabbi A, Constantini S, Dvir R, Yalon-Oren M, Campino GA, Caspi S, Larouche V, Reddy A, Osborn M, Mason G, Lindhorst S, Bronsema A, Magimairajan V, Opocher E, De Mola RL, Sabel M, Frojd C, Sumerauer D, Samuel D, Cole K, Chiaravalli S, Massimino M, Tomboc P, Ziegler DS, George B, Van Damme A, Hijiya N, Gass D, McGee RB, Mordechai O, Bowers DC, Laetsch TW, Lossos A, Blumenthal DT, Sarosiek T, Yen LY, Knipstein J, Bendel A, Hoffman LM, Luna-Fineman S, Zimmermann S, Scheers I, Nichols KE, Zapotocky M, Hansford JR, Maris JM, Dirks P, Taylor MD, Kulkarni AV, Shroff M, Tsang DS, Villani A, Xu W, Aronson M, Durno C, Shlien A, Malkin D, Getz G, Maruvka YE, Ohashi PS, Hawkins C, Pugh TJ, Bouffet E, Tabori U. Genomic predictors of response to PD-1 inhibition in children with germline DNA replication repair deficiency. Nat Med. 2022 Jan;28(1):125-135. PubMed PMID: 34992263
• Fabian ID, Stacey AW, Bowman R, Khetan V, Blum S, Keren-Froim N, Staffieri S, Foster A. Retinoblastoma management during the COVID-19 pandemic: A report by the Global Retinoblastoma Study Group including 194 centers from 94 countries. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2021 Jan;68(1):e28584. PubMed PMID: 32762025
• Vasquez L, Sampor C, Villanueva G, Maradiegue E, Garcia-Lombardi M, Gomez-García W, Moreno F, Diaz R, Cappellano AM, Portilla CA, Salas B, Nava E, Brizuela S, Jimenez S, Espinoza X, Gassant PY, Quintero K, Fuentes-Alabi S, Velasquez T, Fu L, Gamboa Y, Quintana J, Castiglioni M, Nuñez C, Moreno A, Luna-Fineman S, Luciani S, Chantada G. Early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on paediatric cancer care in Latin America. Lancet Oncol. 2020 Jun;21(6):753-755. PubMed PMID: 32437662
• Sullivan M, Bouffet E, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Luna-Fineman S, Khan MS, Kearns P, Hawkins DS, Challinor J, Morrissey L, Fuchs J, Marcus K, Balduzzi A, Basset-Salom L, Caniza M, Baker JN, Kebudi R, Hessissen L, Sullivan R, Pritchard-Jones K. The COVID-19 pandemic: A rapid global response for children with cancer from SIOP, COG, SIOP-E, SIOP-PODC, IPSO, PROS, CCI, and St Jude Global. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2020 Jul;67(7):e28409. PubMed PMID: 32400924
• Fabian ID, Abdallah E, Abdullahi SU, Abdulqader RA, Adamou Boubacar S, Ademola-Popoola DS, Adio A, Afshar AR, Aggarwal P, Aghaji AE, Ahmad A, Akib MNR, Al Harby L, Al Ani MH, Alakbarova A, Portabella SA, Al-Badri SAF, Alcasabas APA, Al-Dahmash SA, Alejos A, Alemany-Rubio E, Alfa Bio AI, Alfonso Carreras Y, Al-Haddad C, Al-Hussaini HHY, Ali AM, Alia DB, Al-Jadiry MF, Al-Jumaily U, Alkatan HM, All-Eriksson C, Al-Mafrachi AARM, Almeida AA, Alsawidi KM, Al-Shaheen AASM, Al-Shammary EH, Amiruddin PO, Antonino R, Astbury NJ, Atalay HT, Atchaneeyasakul LO, Atsiaya R, Attaseth T, Aung TH, Ayala S, Baizakova B, Balaguer J, Balayeva R, Balwierz W, Barranco H, Bascaran C, Beck Popovic M, Benavides R, Benmiloud S, Bennani Guebessi N, Berete RC, Berry JL, Bhaduri A, Bhat S, Biddulph SJ, Biewald EM, Bobrova N, Boehme M, Boldt HC, Bonanomi MTBC, Bornfeld N, Bouda GC, Bouguila H, Boumedane A, Brennan RC, Brichard BG, Buaboonnam J, Calderón-Sotelo P, Calle Jara DA, Camuglia JE, Cano MR, Capra M, Cassoux N, Castela G, Castillo L, Català-Mora J, Chantada GL, Chaudhry S, Chaugule SS, Chauhan A, Chawla B, Chernodrinska VS, Chiwanga FS, Chuluunbat T, Cieslik K, Cockcroft RL, Comsa C, Correa ZM, Correa Llano MG, Corson TW, Cowan-Lyn KE, Csóka M, Cui X, Da Gama IV, Dangboon W, Das A, Das S, Davanzo JM, Davidson A, De Potter P, Delgado KQ, Demirci H, Desjardins L, Diaz Coronado RY, Dimaras H, Dodgshun AJ, Donaldson C, Donato Macedo CR, Dragomir MD, Du Y, Du Bruyn M, Edison KS, Eka Sutyawan IW, El Kettani A, Elbahi AM, Elder JE, Elgalaly D, Elhaddad AM, Elhassan MMA, Elzembely MM, Essuman VA, Evina TGA, Fadoo Z, Fandiño AC, Faranoush M, Fasina O, Fernández DDPG, Fernández-Teijeiro A, Foster A, Frenkel S, Fu LD, Fuentes-Alabi SL, Gallie BL, Gandiwa M, Garcia JL, García Aldana D, Gassant PY, Geel JA, Ghassemi F, Girón AV, Gizachew Z, Goenz MA, Gold AS, Goldberg-Lavid M, Gole GA, Gomel N, Gonzalez E, Gonzalez Perez G, González-Rodríguez L, Garcia Pacheco HN, Graells J, Green L, Gregersen P... Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level. JAMA Oncol. 2020 May 1;6(5):685-695. PubMed PMID: 32105305
• Luna-Fineman S, Chantada G, Alejos A, Amador G, Barnoya M, Castellanos ME, Fu L, Fuentes-Alabi S, Girón V, Goenz MA, Maldonado C, Méndez G, Morales RA, Ortiz R, Sanchez G, Wilson M, Rodríguez-Galindo C. Delayed Enucleation With Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Advanced Intraocular Unilateral Retinoblastoma: AHOPCA II, a Prospective, Multi-Institutional Protocol in Central America. J Clin Oncol. 2019 Nov 1;37(31):2875-2882. PubMed PMID: 31536438
• de Smith AJ, Walsh KM, Morimoto LM, Francis SS, Hansen HM, Jeon S, Gonseth S, Chen M, Sun H, Luna-Fineman S, Antillón F, Girón V, Kang AY, Smirnov I, Shao X, Whitehead TP, Barcellos LF, Jolly KW, Healy J, Laverdière C, Sinnett D, Taub JW, Birch JM, Thompson PD, Pombo-de-Oliveira MS, Spector LG, DeWan AT, Mueller BA, Chiang C, Metayer C, Ma X, Wiemels JL. Heritable variation at the chromosome 21 gene ERG is associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia risk in children with and without Down syndrome. Leukemia. 2019 Nov;33(11):2746-2751. PubMed PMID: 31296947
• Muehe AM, Theruvath AJ, Lai L, Aghighi M, Quon A, Holdsworth SJ, Wang J, Luna-Fineman S, Marina N, Advani R, Rosenberg J, Daldrup-Link HE. How to Provide Gadolinium-Free PET/MR Cancer Staging of Children and Young Adults in Less than 1 h: the Stanford Approach. Mol Imaging Biol. 2018 Apr;20(2):324-335. PubMed PMID: 28721605
• Theruvath AJ, Sukerkar PA, Bao S, Rosenberg J, Luna-Fineman S, Kharbanda S, Daldrup-Link HE. Bone marrow oedema predicts bone collapse in paediatric and adolescent leukaemia patients with corticosteroid-induced osteonecrosis. Eur Radiol. 2018 Jan;28(1):410-417. PubMed PMID: 28726121
• Aghighi M, Theruvath AJ, Pareek A, Pisani LL, Alford R, Muehe AM, Sethi TK, Holdsworth SJ, Hazard FK, Gratzinger D, Luna-Fineman S, Advani R, Spunt SL, Daldrup-Link HE. Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Tumor-Associated Macrophages: Clinical Translation. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Sep 1;24(17):4110-4118. PubMed PMID: 29764855
• Wagner CM, Antillón F, Uwinkindi F, Thuan TV, Luna-Fineman S, Anh PT, Huong TT, Valverde P, Eagan A, Binh PV, Quang TN, Johnson S, Binagwaho A, Torode J. Establishing Cancer Treatment Programs in Resource-Limited Settings: Lessons Learned From Guatemala, Rwanda, and Vietnam. J Glob Oncol. 2018 Jul;(4):1-14. PubMed PMID: 30085895
• Alvarez E, Seppa M, Rivas S, Fuentes L, Valverde P, Antillón-Klussmann F, Castellanos M, Sweet-Cordero EA, Messacar K, Kurap J, Bustamante M, Howard SC, Efron B, Luna-Fineman S. Improvement in treatment abandonment in pediatric patients with cancer in Guatemala. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2017 Oct;64(10). PubMed PMID: 28423236
• Pribnow AK, Ortiz R, Báez LF, Mendieta L, Luna-Fineman S. Effects of malnutrition on treatment-related morbidity and survival of children with cancer in Nicaragua. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2017 Nov;64(11). PubMed PMID: 28449403
• Theruvath AJ, Ilivitzki A, Muehe A, Theruvath J, Gulaka P, Kim C, Luna-Fineman S, Sakamoto KM, Yeom KW, Yang P, Moseley M, Chan F, Daldrup-Link HE. A PET/MR Imaging Approach for the Integrated Assessment of Chemotherapy-induced Brain, Heart, and Bone Injuries in Pediatric Cancer Survivors: A Pilot Study. Radiology. 2017 Dec;285(3):971-979. PubMed PMID: 28777701
• Howard SC, Davidson A, Luna-Fineman S, Israels T, Chantada G, Lam CG, Hunger SP, Bailey S, Ribeiro RC, Arora RS, Pedrosa F, Harif M, Metzger ML. A framework to develop adapted treatment regimens to manage pediatric cancer in low- and middle-income countries: The Pediatric Oncology in Developing Countries (PODC) Committee of the International Pediatric Oncology Society (SIOP). Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2017 Dec;64 Suppl 5. PubMed PMID: 29297619

Professional Memberships

• International Society of Pediatric Oncology, Co-Chair of PODC
• American Society of Clinical Oncology, member
• American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Member
• St Jude Global Medicine, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Member
• Children's Oncology Group, Full Member