Erick Figueiredo Saldanha, MD

My clinical and translational research focuses on early drug development, with respect to experimental therapeutics and phase I clinical trials, with expertise in translating complex first-in-human therapy protocols to the clinic. My disease-specific focus is cutaneous malignancies and melanoma, with robust experience in clinical research spanning early to late phase studies. My special interests include uveal melanoma, rare malignancies, liquid biopsy, and the integration of large-scale omics to personalize cancer care.

Associations

• Cutaneous Oncology
• Immuno-Oncology Program

a. uveal melanoma b. rare skin tumors c. genomics, transcriptomics, and liquid biopsy

• Pisapia P, Mirallas O, Saldanha EF, Borea R. Cancer in a Drop: Liquid biopsy insights from AACR 2026. J Liq Biopsy. 2026 Sep.13:100488. Pubmedid: 42769118. Pmcid: PMC13590274.
• Costa Filho VO, Noronha MM, Costa Passos PR, Holanda Lopes CD, Leite GGF, Maia DCC, de Souza Wanderley CW, Saibil SD, Saldanha EF. Genomic Landscape and Clinical Actionability of Skin Adnexal Carcinomas. JCO Precis Oncol. 2026 Oct.10(10):e2600300. Pubmedid: 42868338.
• Borea R, Saldanha EF, Maheswaran S, Nicolo E, Singhal S, Pontolillo L, de Miguel Perez D, Venetis K, Dipasquale A, Ghazali N, Pisapia P, Franco AO, Gouda MA, Reduzzi C. Cancer in a drop: Advances in liquid biopsy in 2024. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2025 Sep.213:104776. Pubmedid: 40447209.
• Macambira Noronha M, Leite da Silva LF, Reis PCA, Evangelista Ponte Conrado J, Baccili Cury Megid T, Saldanha EF. Peritoneal Tumor DNA as a Prognostic Biomarker in Pancreatic Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Pancreas. 2025 May.54(5):e496-e499. Pubmedid: 39591536.
• Leite LF, Costa de Almeida LF, Diniz da Conceição L, Macambira Noronha M, Belotto M, Saldanha EF, Megid TBC, D'Alpino Peixoto R, Gyawali B. Disease-free survival as a surrogate for overall survival in early-stage pancreatic cancer trials: a correlation meta-analysis. BMJ Oncol. 2025 May.4(1):e000766. Pubmedid: 40519225. Pmcid: PMC12164301.
• Filho VOC, Mesquita FP, Saldanha EF, Passos PRC, Noronha MM, Rabenhorst SHB. Multi-cohort gene expression model enhances prognostic stratification in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Hematol Transfus Cell Ther. 2025 Jun.47(3):103847. Pubmedid: 40513296. Pmcid: PMC12205312.
• Valenza C, Saldanha EF, Gong Y, De Placido P, Gritsch D, Ortiz H, Trapani D, Conforti F, Cremolini C, Peters S, Mateo J, Subbiah V, Parsons HA, Partridge AH, Curigliano G. Circulating tumor DNA clearance as a predictive biomarker of pathologic complete response in patients with solid tumors treated with neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Oncol. 2025 Jul.36(7):726-736. Pubmedid: 40187491.
• Passos PRC, Filho VOC, Noronha MM, Hyppolito EB, Saldanha EF, Motta RV. Influence of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists on hepatic events in type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2025 Jan.40(1):67-77. Pubmedid: 39322970.
• Leite da Silva LF, Saldanha EF, de Menezes JSA, Halamy Pereira L, de Bragança Dos Santos JAR, Buonopane IR, de Souza EM, de Menezes CUG, Lopes G. Plasma ctDNA kinetics as a predictor of systemic therapy response for advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Oncologist. 2025 Feb.30(2). Pubmedid: 39998904. Pmcid: PMC11853598.
• Saldanha EF, Cordeiro de Lima VC, Fares A, Corassa M, Gil-Santana L, Arrieta O, Soler J, Chamorro DF, Rodrigues J, Carioca Freitas H, Rojas L, Zuluaga J, Cardona AF. Real-world characteristics and outcomes of ERBB2-mutant NSCLC in Latin American patients (CLICaP). Oncologist. 2025 Feb.30(2). Pubmedid: 40036771. Pmcid: PMC11879184.
• Saldanha EF, Ribeiro MF, Hirsch I, Spreafico A, Saibil SD, Butler MO. How we treat patients with metastatic uveal melanoma. ESMO Open. 2025 Apr.10(4):104496. Pubmedid: 40112696. Pmcid: PMC11979469.
• Saldanha EF, Nicolo E, Venetis K, de Miguel-Perez D, Ortega-Franco A, Dipasquale A, Gouda MA, Singhal S, Adigbli G, Reduzzi C. The role of liquid biopsy as a catalyst for sustained progress in precision oncology - Perspective of the young committee of the international society of liquid biopsy. J Liq Biopsy. 2024 Sep.5:100156. Pubmedid: 40027940. Pmcid: PMC11863974.
• Saldanha EF, Powis M, Sharma D, Espin-Garcia O, Hack S, Cavalher F, Costa MR, Simoes M, Li H, Baiad A, Chen K, Mohmand Z, Nakhla P, Aguiar S, Riechelmann R, Krzyzanowska MK. Impact of the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Quality of Care for Colorectal and Anal Cancers at Comprehensive Cancer Centers on Two Continents. JCO Glob Oncol. 2024 Sep.10:e2400037. Pubmedid: 39348613.
• Reduzzi C, Nicolo' E, Singhal S, Venetis K, Ortega-Franco A, de Miguel-Perez D, Dipasquale A, Gouda MA, Saldanha EF, Kasi PM, Jantus-Lewintre E, Fusco N, Malapelle U, Gandara DR, Rolfo C, Serrano MJ, Cristofanilli M. Unveiling the impact of circulating tumor cells: Two decades of discovery and clinical advancements in solid tumors. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2024 Nov.203:104483. Pubmedid: 39159706.
• da Silva LFL, Saldanha EF, da Conceição LD, de Andrade Martins W, Gismondi RA, de Souza Filho EM, Peixoto RD. Efficacy and safety of trifluridine/tipiracil plus bevacizumab across different subgroups of patients with refractory colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis. Ecancermedicalscience. 2024 Jul.18:1728. Pubmedid: 39421178. Pmcid: PMC11484657.
• da Silva LFL, Saldanha EF, da Conceição LD, Noronha MM, da Silva MVMG, Peixoto RD'. Anti-EGFR Rechallenge in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer and the Role of ctDNA: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. J Gastrointest Cancer. 2024 Dec.56(1):28. Pubmedid: 39623250.
• Chamorro DF, Cardona AF, Rodríguez J, Ruiz-Patiño A, Arrieta O, Moreno-Pérez DA, Rojas L, Zatarain-Barrón ZL, Ardila DV, Viola L, Recondo G, Blaquier JB, Martín C, Raez L, Samtani S, Ordóñez-Reyes C, Garcia-Robledo JE, Corrales L, Sotelo C, Ricaurte L, Cuello M, Mejía S, Jaller E, Vargas C, Carranza H, Otero J, Archila P, Bermudez M, Gamez T, Russo A, Malapelle U, de Miguel Perez D, de Lima VCC, Freitas H, Saldahna E, Rolfo C, Rosell R. Genomic Landscape of Primary Resistance to Osimertinib Among Hispanic Patients with EGFR-Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC): Results of an Observational Longitudinal Cohort Study. Target Oncol. 2023 May.18(3):425-440. Pubmedid: 37017806. Pmcid: PMC10192162.
• Koch Hein EC, Vilbert M, Hirsch I, Fernando Ribeiro M, Muniz TP, Fournier C, Abdulalem K, Saldanha EF, Martinez E, Spreafico A, Hogg DH, Butler MO, Saibil SD. Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Advanced Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Real-World Experience from a Canadian Comprehensive Cancer Centre. Cancers (Basel). 2023 Aug.15(17). Pubmedid: 37686588. Pmcid: PMC10487051.
• Cordeiro de Lima VC, Corassa M, Saldanha E, Freitas H, Arrieta O, Raez L, Samtani S, Ramos M, Rojas C, Burotto M, Chamorro DF, Recondo G, Ruiz-Patiño A, Más L, Zatarain-Barrón L, Mejía S, Nicolas Minata J, Martín C, Bautista Blaquier J, Motta Guerrero R, Aliaga-Macha C, Carracedo C, Ordóñez-Reyes C, Garcia-Robledo JE, Corrales L, Sotelo C, Ricaurte L, Santoyo N, Cuello M, Jaller E, Rodríguez J, Archila P, Bermudez M, Gamez T, Russo A, Viola L, Malapelle U, de Miguel Perez D, Rolfo C, Rosell R, Cardona AF. STK11 and KEAP1 mutations in non-small cell lung cancer patients: Descriptive analysis and prognostic value among Hispanics (STRIKE registry-CLICaP). Lung Cancer. 2022 Aug.170:114-121. Pubmedid: 35753125.
• de Moura Leite L, Cesca MG, Tavares MC, Santana DM, Saldanha EF, Guimarães PT, Sá DDS, Simões MFE, Viana RL, Rocha FG, Loose SK, Silva SF, Pirolli R, Fogassa CAZ, Mattos BRS, Campos FAB, Sanches SM, de Lima VCC, Pondé NF. HER2-low status and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in HER2 negative early breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2021 Nov.190(1):155-163. Pubmedid: 34409551.