Bruna Pellini, MD

Cancer Focus:
Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, Pancoast Tumor, Thymoma

  Dr. Bruna Pellini is an Assistant Member at the Department of Thoracic Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute and an Assistant Professor at Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida. She specializes in the care of patients diagnosed with lung cancer. Dr. Pellini received her medical degree from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and completed her internal medicine residency at University of Central Florida College of Medicine followed by her medical oncology fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Her post-doctoral research in Dr. Aadel Chaudhuri’s laboratory focused on circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) for minimal residual disease (MRD) detection across different solid tumors. Dr. Pellini’s research focuses on liquid biopsies for treatment response monitoring, MRD detection, and their implementation into clinical trials. She also develops and leads clinical trials with novel therapeutics targeting genomic alterations in non-small cell lung cancer with a special focus in KRAS-mutant non-small cell lung cancer. Dr. Pellini is a recipient of the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Career Development Award and is a former scholar of the Cancer Genomics Research STRENGTH Program (R25CA190190). In a national level, she is the co-Chair of the NIH Liquid Biopsy Scientific Interest Group, and a member of the SWOG Lung Translational Medicine Subcommittee.  

Education & Training

Board Certification:

• Internal Medicine - Medical Oncology

Fellowship:

• Washington University School of Medicine - Medical Oncology

Residency:

• University of Central Florida College of Medicine - Internal Medicine

Medical School:

• Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Faculdade de Medicina, Brazil

Clinical Trial 20373
TH-138: Phase II Randomized Trial of Carboplatin + Pemetrexed + Bevacizumab, With or Without Atezolizumab in Stage IV Non-Squamous NSCLC Patients who Harbor a Sensitizing EGFR Mutation or Have Never Smoked
Condition: Thoracic
Intervention: Alimta (Pemetrexed); Atezolizumab (Tecentriq); Avastin (Bevacizumab); Bevacizumab (); Paraplatin (carboplatin); Pemetrexed (); carboplatin ()
Status: Open

Clinical Trial 21074
A Phase 2 Randomized Study of Osimertinib Versus Osimertinib Plus Chemotherapy for Patients with Metastatic EGFR-Mutant Lung Cancers That Have Detectable EGFRMutant cfDNA in Plasma After Initiation of Osimertinib
Condition: Thoracic
Intervention: AZD9291 (Osimertinib); Alimta (Pemetrexed); Osimertinib (); Paraplatin (carboplatin); Pemetrexed (); carboplatin ()
Status: Open

Clinical Trial 21850
Phase 1/1b, Multicenter, Open-Label, Dose Escalation and Dose Expansion Study of RMC-6291 Monotherapy in Subjects with Advanced KRASG12C Mutant Solid Tumors
Condition: Thoracic
Intervention: RMC-6291 ()
Status: Open

Clinical Trial 22561
Minority Patient-Centered Education Initiative to Increase Knowledge About Clinical Trials in Thoracic Oncology
Condition: Thoracic
Status: Open

If you believe you are eligible for one of these trials or studies, please call
813-745-6100 or toll-free 1-800-679-0775.

• Imbody D, Arce K, Solanki HS, Haura EB, Pellini B. Targeting SHP2 Signaling in Lung Cancer. J Thorac Oncol. 2024 Jan.19(1):18-24. Pubmedid: 37574134.
• Desai A, Vázquez TA, Arce KM, Corassa M, Mack PC, Gray JE, Pellini B. ctDNA for the Evaluation and Management of EGFR-Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Feb.16(5). Pubmedid: 38473302. Pmcid: PMC10930898.
• Pellini B, Chaudhuri AA. Racial disparities in early-stage NSCLC treatment: A Call for Action. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2024 Apr. Pubmedid: 38587480.
• Semenkovich NP, Badiyan SN, Samson PP, Stowe HB, Wang YE, Star R, Devarakonda S, Govindan R, Waqar SN, Robinson CG, Vlacich G, Pellini B, Chaudhuri AA. Pre-radiotherapy ctDNA liquid biopsy for risk stratification of oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer. NPJ Precis Oncol. 2023 Oct.7(1):100. Pubmedid: 37783809. Pmcid: PMC10545784.
• Bodor JN, Patel JD, Wakelee HA, Levy BP, Borghaei H, Pellini B, Costello MR, Dowell JE, Finley G, Huang CH, Neal JW, Nieva JJ, Puri S, Socinski MA, Thomas C, Ross EA, Litwin S, Clapper ML, Treat J. Phase II Randomized Trial of Carboplatin, Pemetrexed, and Bevacizumab With and Without Atezolizumab in Stage IV Nonsquamous Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients Who Harbor a Sensitizing EGFR Mutation or Have Never Smoked. Clin Lung Cancer. 2023 Nov.24(7):e242-e246. Pubmedid: 37451930.
• Pellini B, Madison RW, Childress M, Miller ST, Gjoerup O, Cheng J, Huang RSP, Krainock M, Gupta P, Zou W, Shames DS, Moshkevich S, Ballinger M, Liu MC, Young A, Srivastava MK, Oxnard GR, Socinski MA. Circulating Tumor DNA Monitoring on Chemo-immunotherapy for Risk Stratification in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2023 Nov.29(22):4596-4605. Pubmedid: 37702716. Pmcid: PMC10643998.
• Gilardone S, Thapa R, Laborde J, Shafique M, Saltos A, Creelan B, Tanvetyanon T, Chiappori A, Simon G, Haura EB, Gray JE, Chen DT, Melzer D, Pellini B. Osimertinib vs. afatinib as first-line treatment for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with an EGFR exon 19 deletion or exon 21 L858R mutation. J Thorac Dis. 2023 Nov.15(11):6115-6125. Pubmedid: 38090314. Pmcid: PMC10713299.
• Chaudhuri A, Semenkovich N, Samson P, Badiyan S, Vlacich G, Stowe H, Wang Y, Star R, Devarakonda S, Govindan R, Waqar S, Robinson C, Pellini B. Pre-radiotherapy ctDNA liquid biopsy for risk stratification of oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Res Sq. 2023 Mar. Pubmedid: 36993328. Pmcid: PMC10055612.
• Semenkovich NP, Szymanski JJ, Earland N, Chauhan PS, Pellini B, Chaudhuri AA. Genomic approaches to cancer and minimal residual disease detection using circulating tumor DNA. J Immunother Cancer. 2023 Jun.11(6). Pubmedid: 37349125. Pmcid: PMC10314661.
• Pellini B, Chaudhuri AA. ctDNA Monitoring for Small Cell Lung Cancer: Ready for Prime Time?. Clin Cancer Res. 2023 Jun.29(12):2176-2178. Pubmedid: 37097069. Pmcid: PMC10330146.
• Marin-Acevedo JA, Pellini B, Kimbrough EO, Hicks JK, Chiappori A. Treatment Strategies for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with Common EGFR Mutations: A Review of the History of EGFR TKIs Approval and Emerging Data. Cancers (Basel). 2023 Jan.15(3). Pubmedid: 36765587. Pmcid: PMC9913773.
• Soupir AC, Tian Y, Stewart PA, Nunez-Lopez YO, Manley BJ, Pellini B, Bloomer AM, Zhang J, Mo Q, Marchion DC, Liu M, Koomen JM, Siegel EM, Wang L. Detectable Lipidomes and Metabolomes by Different Plasma Exosome Isolation Methods in Healthy Controls and Patients with Advanced Prostate and Lung Cancer. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jan.24(3). Pubmedid: 36768152. Pmcid: PMC9916336.
• Pellini B, Chaudhuri AA. Circulating Tumor DNA Minimal Residual Disease Detection of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Treated With Curative Intent. J Clin Oncol. 2022 Feb.40(6):567-575. Pubmedid: 34985936. Pmcid: PMC8853615.
• Shields MD, Chen K, Dutcher G, Patel I, Pellini B. Making the Rounds: Exploring the Role of Circulating Tumor DNA (ctDNA) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Aug.23(16). Pubmedid: 36012272. Pmcid: PMC9408840.
• Schlick B, Shields MD, Marin-Acevedo JA, Patel I, Pellini B. Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and Chemoradiation for Limited-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer. CURR TREAT OPTION ON. 2022 Aug.23(8):1104-1120. Pubmedid: 35716328. Pmcid: PMC9345799.
• Luo J, Ostrem J, Pellini B, Imbody D, Stern Y, Solanki HS, Haura EB, Villaruz LC. Overcoming KRAS-Mutant Lung Cancer. Am Soc Clin Oncol Educ Book. 2022 Apr.42:1-11. Pubmedid: 35412860.
• Huang J, Soupir AC, Schlick BD, Teng M, Sahin IH, Permuth JB, Siegel EM, Manley BJ, Pellini B, Wang L. Cancer Detection and Classification by CpG Island Hypermethylation Signatures in Plasma Cell-Free DNA. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Nov.13(22). Pubmedid: 34830765. Pmcid: PMC8616264.
• Chen K, Shields MD, Chauhan PS, Ramirez RJ, Harris PK, Reimers MA, Zevallos JP, Davis AA, Pellini B, Chaudhuri AA. Commercial ctDNA Assays for Minimal Residual Disease Detection of Solid Tumors. Mol Diagn Ther. 2021 Nov.25(6):757-774. Pubmedid: 34725800. Pmcid: PMC9016631.
• Shields MD, Marin-Acevedo JA, Pellini B. Immunotherapy for Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Decade of Progress. Am Soc Clin Oncol Educ Book. 2021 Mar.41:1-23. Pubmedid: 33979196.
• Devarakonda S, Pellini B, Verghese L, Park H, Morgensztern D, Govindan R, Suresh R, Oppelt P, Baggstrom MQ, Wu N, Waqar SN. A phase II study of everolimus in patients with advanced solid malignancies with TSC1, TSC2, NF1, NF2 or STK11 mutations. J Thorac Dis. 2021 Jul.13(7):4054-4062. Pubmedid: 34422335. Pmcid: PMC8339787.
• Pellini B, Pejovic N, Feng W, Earland N, Harris PK, Usmani A, Szymanski JJ, Qaium F, Mudd J, Petty M, Jiang Y, Singh A, Maher CA, Henke LE, Park H, Ciorba MA, Kim H, Mutch MG, Pedersen KS, Tan BR, Hawkins WG, Fields RC, Chaudhuri AA. ctDNA MRD Detection and Personalized Oncogenomic Analysis in Oligometastatic Colorectal Cancer From Plasma and Urine. JCO Precis Oncol. 2021 Feb.5. Pubmedid: 34250420. Pmcid: PMC8232837.
• Pellini B, Szymanski J, Chin RI, Jones PA, Chaudhuri AA. Liquid Biopsies Using Circulating Tumor DNA in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Thorac Surg Clin. 2020 May.30(2):165-177. Pubmedid: 32327175.
• Chaudhuri AA, Pellini B, Pejovic N, Chauhan PS, Harris PK, Szymanski JJ, Smith ZL, Arora VK. Emerging Roles of Urine-Based Tumor DNA Analysis in Bladder Cancer Management. JCO Precis Oncol. 2020 Jul.4. Pubmedid: 32923907. Pmcid: PMC7448529.
• Jacobs MT, Olson M, Ferreira BP, Jin R, Hachem R, Byers D, Witt C, Ghobadi A, DiPersio JF, Pusic I. The use of ruxolitinib for acute graft-versus-host disease developing after solid organ transplantation. Am J Transplant. 2020 Feb.20(2):589-592. Pubmedid: 31446673.
• Pellini Ferreira B, Vasquez J, Carilli A. Metastatic Hepatoid Carcinoma of the Pancreas: First Description of Treatment With Capecitabine and Temozolomide. Am J Med Sci. 2017 Jun.353(6):610-612. Pubmedid: 28641727.
• Pellini Ferreira B, Redman M, Baker KK, Martins R, Eaton KD, Chow LQM, Baik CS, Goulart B, Lee SM, Santana-Davila R, Rodriguez CP. Predictors of outcome with cetuximab and paclitaxel for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Laryngoscope. 2017 Jul.127(7):1583-1588. Pubmedid: 27905113.
• Uchôa Dde M, Graudenz MS, Callegari-Jacques SM, Hartmann CR, Ferreira BP, Fitarelli-Kiehl M, Edelweiss MI. Expression of cancer stem cell markers in basal and penta-negative breast carcinomas--a study of a series of triple-negative tumors. Pathol Res Pract. 2014 Jul.210(7):432-439. Pubmedid: 24726267.
• Ferreira BP, Rodler ET, Loggers ET, Pollack SM, Jones RL. Systemic therapy in primary angiosarcoma of the spleen. Rare Tumors. 2012 Oct.4(4):e55. Pubmedid: 23372919. Pmcid: PMC3557569.

Title: Minority patient-centered education initiative to increase knowledge about clinical trials in thoracic oncology
Sponsor: Moffitt Cancer Center
PI: Pellini, B.
Title: Culturally tailored educational videos to increase clinical trial knowledge for minority patients with lung cancer
Sponsor: Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation
PI: Pellini, B.