Development of a Health Research Portfolio Based on Priority Topics for Peruvian Social Health Insurance (ESSALUD) in 2023-2025: A Collaborative Approach to Addressing Institutional and Public Health Challenges.

Addressing health research priorities in public institutions is crucial for efficient resource allocation and policy impact. This study aims to describe the development of Peru's Social Health Insurance (ESSALUD) 2023-2025 research portfolio, which aligns with institutional priorities and focuses on improving decision-making for population health. The Health Research Directorate (DIS) of ESSALUD led a structured three-phase process, engaging multidisciplinary teams and utilizing a group model-building approach to generate research ideas.

Characterization of screening strategies for Lynch syndrome in Latin America.

Background & Aims: In Latin America, genetic testing for Lynch Syndrome (LS) has been partially implemented. Traditionally, LS diagnosis relied on the Amsterdam criteria and Bethesda guidelines, collectively known as Traditional Screening (TS). However, TS may miss up to 68% of LS cases.

Fluoride-Induced Microhardness Changes in Resin-Modified Glass Ionomer Cements: A Comparative Study.

Background: Resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RM-GIC) is widely used in clinical dental procedures as a restorative material due to its chemical composition. It is known for its strong adhesion to dental structures and its fluoride content. However, fluoride in RM-GIC is insufficient for preventing the formation of carious lesions, making the use of fluoride gel and varnish necessary as preventive strategies.

Transcriptome-Based Survival Analysis Identifies as a Prognostic Marker in Gastric Cancer with Microsatellite Instability.

: Gastric cancer (GC) is a highly aggressive malignancy with diverse molecular subtypes. While microsatellite instability (MSI) GC generally carries a favorable prognosis, a subset of patients experiences poor outcomes, highlighting the need for refined prognostic markers. This study utilized transcriptomic and clinical data from two independent cohorts, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Asian Cancer Research Group (ACRG), to identify novel prognostic genes in MSI-GC.

Mitochondrial DNA alterations in precision oncology: Emerging roles in diagnostics and therapeutics.

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles essential for vital cellular functions, including ATP production, apoptosis regulation, and calcium homeostasis. Increasing research has highlighted the significance of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content and alterations in the development and progression of various diseases, including cancer. The high mutation rate and vulnerability of mtDNA to damage make these alterations valuable biomarkers for cancer diagnosis, monitoring disease progression, detecting metastasis, and predicting treatment resistance across different tumor types.

T-Cell Subpopulations and Differentiation Bias in Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients often experience dysregulated inflammation, particularly when compounded by comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether T2D influences the profile of memory T lymphocytes, regulatory T cells (Tregs), and the gene expression of transcription factors such as , , , and in CKD patients.

Methods: Twenty-two CKD patients undergoing hemodialysis were selected for the study.

Oncolytic alphavirus-induced extracellular vesicles counteract the immunosuppressive effect of melanoma-derived extracellular vesicles.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs)-mediated communication by cancer cells contributes towards the pro-tumoral reprogramming of the tumor microenvironment. Viral infection has been observed to alter the biogenesis and cargo of EVs secreted from host cells in the context of infectious biology. However, the impact of oncolytic viruses on the cargo and function of EVs released by cancer cells remains unknown.

deltaXpress (ΔXpress): a tool for mapping differentially correlated genes using single-cell qPCR data.

Background: High-throughput experiments provide deep insight into the molecular biology of different species, but more tools need to be developed to handle this type of data. At the transcriptomics level, quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction technology (qPCR) can be affordably adapted to produce high-throughput results through a single-cell approach. In addition to comparative expression profiles between groups, single-cell approaches allow us to evaluate and propose new dependency relationships among markers.

Establishment of a 7-gene expression panel to improve the prognosis classification of gastric cancer patients.

Gastric cancer (GC) ranks fifth in incidence and fourth in mortality worldwide. The high death rate in patients with GC requires new biomarkers for improving survival estimation. In this study, we performed a transcriptome-based analysis of five publicly available cohorts to identify genes consistently associated with prognosis in GC.

Deciphering the Functional Status of Breast Cancers through the Analysis of Their Extracellular Vesicles.

Breast cancer (BC) accounts for the highest incidence of tumor-related mortality among women worldwide, justifying the growing search for molecular tools for the early diagnosis and follow-up of BC patients under treatment. Circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membranous nanocompartments produced by all human cells, including tumor cells. Since minimally invasive methods collect EVs, which represent reservoirs of signals for cell communication, these particles have attracted the interest of many researchers aiming to improve BC screening and treatment.

Insights from a Computational-Based Approach for Analyzing Autophagy Genes across Human Cancers.

In the last decade, there has been a boost in autophagy reports due to its role in cancer progression and its association with tumor resistance to treatment. Despite this, many questions remain to be elucidated and explored among the different tumors. Here, we used omics-based cancer datasets to identify autophagy genes as prognostic markers in cancer.

Promoter hypermethylation of RARB and GSTP1 genes in plasma cell-free DNA as breast cancer biomarkers in Peruvian women.

Background: Promoter hypermethylation is one of the enabling mechanisms of hallmarks of cancer. Tumor suppressor genes like RARB and GSTP1 have been reported as hypermethylated in breast cancer tumors compared with normal tissues in several populations. This case-control study aimed to determine the association between the promoter methylation ratio (PMR) of RARB and GSTP1 genes (separately and as a group) with breast cancer and its clinical-pathological variables in Peruvian patients, using a liquid biopsy approach.

Impact of mini-driver genes in the prognosis and tumor features of colorectal cancer samples: a novel perspective to support current biomarkers.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths, and its development is associated with the gains and/or losses of genetic material, which leads to the emergence of main driver genes with higher mutational frequency. In addition, there are other genes with mutations that have weak tumor-promoting effects, known as mini-drivers, which could aggravate the development of oncogenesis when they occur together. The aim of our work was to use computer analysis to explore the survival impact, frequency, and incidence of mutations of possible mini-driver genes to be used for the prognosis of CRC.

Chip-based digital Polymerase Chain Reaction as quantitative technique for the detection of mutations in breast cancer patients.

Background: is a gene frequently mutated in breast cancer. With the FDA approval of alpelisib, the evaluation of for activating mutations is becoming routinely. Novel platforms for gene analysis as digital PCR (dPCR) are emerging as a potential replacement for the traditional Sanger sequencing.

Disruption of miRNA-mRNA Networks Defines Novel Molecular Signatures for Penile Carcinogenesis.

Penile cancer (PeC) carcinogenesis is not fully understood, and no biomarkers are reported in clinical practice. We aimed to investigate molecular signatures based on miRNA and mRNA and perform an integrative analysis to identify molecular drivers and pathways for PeC development. Affymetrix miRNA microarray was used to identify differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRs) comparing 11 tumoral tissues (TT) paired with non-neoplastic tissues (NNT) with further validation in an independent cohort ( = 13).