Sandra Luna-Fineman, MD

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

Recognitions

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

Research Interests

Publications

• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Sandra Luna-Fineman, Guillermo Chantada Soad Fuentes-Alabi, Amanda Alejos, Geraldina Amador, Margarita Barnoya, Raquel Benavides, Mauricio E Castellanos, Jessica Gamboa, Verónica Girón, Marco Antonio Goenz, Ligia Fu, Carlos Maldonado, Gustavo Méndez, Rosa Amelia Morales, Roberta Ortiz, Gissela Sanchez, Carlos Rodríguez-Galindo.Delayed enucleation with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in advanced intraocular unilateral retinoblastoma: AHOPCA-II, a prospective, multi-institutional protocol in Central America. JCO, accepted for publication
• Dean M, Torres-González E, Garland L, Bendfelt G, Girón V, Garrido C, Lou H, Valverde P, Barnoya M, Castellanos M, Mejía G, Ortiz R, Luna-Fineman S. RB1 gene mutations in retinoblastoma patients from Central America. American Society of Human Genetics, 2017
• Luna-Fineman S, Castellanos M, Metzger M, Báez LF, Gamboa Y, Peña-Hernandez A, Alabi S, Nieves R, Blanco J, Rossi E, de Alarcón P. AHOPCA LH 2004: Treatment of high risk Hodgkin Lymphoma in LMIC: Essential drug availability and long term outcomes. SIOP 2017
• Garrido C, Frazier L, Luna-Fineman S, Blanco J, Fuentes S, Gomez W, Aleman V, Rodriguez-Galindo C. Results of the AHOPCA GCT 2: risk-adapted therapy for germ cell tumor in Central America. SIOP 2018.
• Delayed Enucleation With Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Advanced Intraocular Unilateral Retinoblastoma: AHOPCA II, a Prospective, Multi-Institutional Protocol in Central America. 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. J Clin Oncol. 2019 Nov 1;37(31):2875-2882. doi: 10.1200/JCO.18.00141. Epub 2019 Sep 19.
• Heritable variation at the chromosome 21 gene ERG is associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia risk in children with and without Down syndrome. 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. Leukemia. 2019 Jul 11. doi: 10.1038/s41375-019-0514-9. [Epub ahead of print] No abstract available.
• Bhakta, M, Bonilla M, Bhakta N, Abdelhafeez H, Acharya S, Alcasabas T, Baker J, Force L, Faughnan L, Luna-Fineman S et al. A structured approach to the development of comprehensive resource adapted treatment guidelines for childhood cancers: Rhadomyosarcoma as an initial example. Abstract SIOP Lyon 2019.
• 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
• Fu L, Luna-Fineman S Ortiz R, Gomez-Garcia W, Howard S. Metronomic Chemotherapy as an approach to children with advance cancer in resource-limited countries. Abstract SIOP Lyon 2019
• Quintero K, Luna-Fineman S, Rodriquez H, Gonzalez M, Friedrich P. Experience using a score-based need assessment tool (ProFile) during the initial twinning partnership between Children’s Hospital Colorado and Hospital del Niño in Panama. Abs SIOP19-1308, SIOP Lyon 2019.
• 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
• Sudhaman S, Bouffet E, Chung J, Cambell B, Eduards M, Brosiscer A, Hoffman L, Luna-Fineman S et al. Immune and tumor biomarkers of outcome in replication repair deficient brain tumors to immune checkpoint inhibition: Updates from the international RRD consortium. Ped SNO 2019.
• Antillon-Klussmann F, Luna-Fineman S, Valverde P, Blanco J, Martinez C, Ceppi F, Barr R, Metzger M, Rodriguez-Galindo C, De Alarcon P, Ribeiro R, Conter V. Children treated for acute lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in Guatemala: Outcome with two L’asparaginase products. ASH 2019.
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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

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

Practice Locations

• Children's Hospital Colorado
• University of Colorado Hospital

Specialty Information

• Pediatric Hematology / Oncology, Board Certification (, 2016)
• Pediatrics, Board Certification (1991)
• Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Board Certification (1996)
• Colorado Medical, License (2017)
• California Medical, License (1988)

• Cancers - Pediatric Cancer
• Cancers
• Cancers - Retinoblastoma
• Cancers - Lymphoma
• Cancers - Leukemia (Childhood)