Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Puerto Rican women. It also accounts for the highest mortality rate due to cancer in this population. The incidence of melanoma in Puerto Rico has risen 200% in the last five years. Recently, sentinel node biopsy has become the standard of care for melanoma patients, and promise to have a big impact in the surgical management of breast cancer patients. This initiative will promote an equally beneficial collaboration between the Puerto Rico Cancer Center (PRCC). Radioguided Surgery Group and the Department of Surgery at the L. Moffitt Cancer Center (LMCC). We will pursue the following specific aim: To develop a collaborative program on """"""""Radioguided Surgery"""""""" between the Surgery Oncology faculty of the UPR-PRCC and the Department of Surgical Oncology of the LMCC in Tampa that will focus on professional training and the expansion of existing infrastructure to participate in national clinical trials. To achieve this goal we proposed the following activities: 1) to establish a professional relationship between the Surgical Oncology faculty of the UPR-PRCC and the Department of Surgery at the LMCC. We will achieve this goal by participation of the PRCC """"""""Radiosurgery Oncology Group"""""""" members in Moffitt Seminars. We will also organize a Sentinel Node Seminar in Puerto Rico. This activity will be conducted during the first 6 months of the grant. 2) To develop a training program on sentinel node biopsy. Training of academic surgeons and pathologists from the PRCC at the LMCC will competed our group of trained physicians that will be involved in the application of this technique in Puerto Rico. In addition, trained physicians will be certified in the technique at LMCC. This activity will also occur during the first 3-12 months of the grant. 3) To expand the necessary infrastructure of the PRCC as to become eligible for membership to the AcoSOG. This effort will result in an increased participation of minority clinical scientist and minority patients in national clinical trials. We will pursue this goal by: organizing the PRCC Infrastructure for participation in the AcoSOG. This activity will be completed during the first year of the grant. During the second and third years of this initiative, we will complete the certification of the trained physicians based on their corresponding professional organization and will apply to the ACoSOG.
| Rivera-Peña, Bianca; Ruíz-Fullana, Francisco J; Vélez-Reyes, Germán L et al. (2016) HPV-16 infection modifies overall survival of Puerto Rican HNSCC patients. Infect Agent Cancer 11:47 |
| Baez, Adriana; Cantor, Alan; Fonseca, Sharon et al. (2005) Differences in Smad4 expression in human papillomavirus type 16-positive and human papillomavirus type 16-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Clin Cancer Res 11:3191-7 |
