Dr. María Eugenia Reyes

Dr. María Eugenia Reyes is one of Venezuela's most respected medical oncologists, with 19 years of clinical experience at Hospital de Clínicas Caracas — the country's leading private hospital and the institutional home of Venezuela's most skilled specialists across multiple disciplines. Venezuela's prolonged economic crisis has had a devastating impact on its public health system, causing severe shortages of oncology medications, diagnostic reagents, and treatment equipment. Against this backdrop, the private sector — and Hospital de Clínicas Caracas in particular — has served as a vital refuge for patients who can access private care, allowing physicians like Dr. Reyes to maintain oncology practice of genuinely high quality.

Dr. Reyes is particularly known for her expertise in breast cancer and thoracic oncology, two of the most prevalent and clinically challenging cancer categories in Venezuela. She has maintained her clinical competence through sustained engagement with international oncology societies — including ASCO and SLACOM — and has cultivated working relationships with oncology centres in the United States, Spain, and Colombia. These connections have enabled her to access emerging treatment information, participate in virtual tumour boards with international colleagues, and in some cases facilitate access to clinical trials or compassionate use programmes for her patients.

Like a number of Venezuela's leading specialists, Dr. Reyes holds an international telemedicine appointment, enabling her to consult for Venezuelan diaspora patients based abroad who wish to maintain continuity with a Venezuelan oncologist they trust, and for international patients in neighbouring countries who seek second opinions from a Spanish-speaking oncologist with strong academic ties. This dual practice model — combining in-person Caracas consultations with international telemedicine — has become an increasingly common adaptation among Venezuela's top physicians in response to the country's economic conditions.

She is deeply committed to her patients and to the patients' families, investing significant time in explaining diagnosis and treatment options with honesty and clarity, and in integrating palliative and supportive care early in the treatment journey to ensure quality of life is protected throughout.

Dr. Reyes completed her medical degree (Médico Cirujano) at the Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV) in Caracas — historically Venezuela's most academically prestigious medical school. She completed her internal medicine residency and medical oncology specialisation at Hospital de Clínicas Caracas and affiliated Caracas teaching institutions, training in an environment that was, in the early years of her career, among the better-equipped oncology centres in northern South America.

She subsequently undertook a medical oncology fellowship at an international centre abroad — an experience shared by many of Venezuela's top oncologists seeking subspecialty training equal to global standards — where she gained exposure to high-volume oncology practice, clinical trial protocols, and precision medicine approaches including molecular tumour profiling and biomarker-driven therapy selection.

Dr. Reyes holds board certification from the Sociedad Venezolana de Oncología (SVO) and maintains active membership in ASCO and SLACOM. She participates regularly in ASCO's continuing education programmes, virtual tumour boards, and guideline update publications to ensure her clinical practice reflects the most current international standards in medical oncology.

Dr. Reyes's primary clinical specialties are breast cancer and thoracic (lung) oncology. In breast cancer, she manages the full spectrum from early operable disease to locally advanced and metastatic presentations, selecting treatment based on hormone receptor status, HER2 expression, and, where molecular profiling is accessible, genomic subtype. She has experience with endocrine therapy, CDK4/6 inhibitors (palbociclib, ribociclib), HER2-directed therapy (trastuzumab, pertuzumab), and standard chemotherapy regimens including anthracyclines and taxanes.

In thoracic oncology, she manages non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) including adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma subtypes, selecting between EGFR-targeted therapy (for EGFR-mutated adenocarcinoma), ALK/ROS1-directed therapy, and immunotherapy with PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors (pembrolizumab, nivolumab) based on molecular testing results. She is experienced in the management of small cell lung cancer with platinum-based etoposide regimens.

Her broader oncology practice extends to colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, and gastric cancer. She integrates palliative and supportive oncology from the earliest stages of advanced disease management, and is skilled at honest goals-of-care discussions and at managing symptoms including chemotherapy-related toxicities, cancer-related pain, and nutritional compromise.

Dr. Reyes has contributed to clinical research and case series reporting in Venezuelan and Latin American oncology, with interest in breast cancer treatment outcomes in the Venezuelan private sector context, the feasibility of immunotherapy protocols in resource-limited settings, and the molecular characteristics of lung adenocarcinoma in Venezuelan patients. She has published findings in the Revista Venezolana de Oncología and has presented at the Sociedad Venezolana de Oncología's annual congress and at SLACOM's biennial meeting.

Her research is shaped by a practical concern for what is achievable within Venezuela's constrained healthcare environment — identifying which international guideline recommendations can be implemented fully, which require adaptation, and which are not currently feasible, and documenting outcomes accordingly. She collaborates virtually with oncology colleagues in Colombia and the United States through case review sessions and has contributed clinical data to SLACOM registry initiatives tracking breast and lung cancer outcomes across Latin America.

Dr. Reyes consults in Spanish and English and offers telemedicine consultations for Venezuelan patients abroad, international patients seeking second opinions, and neighbouring country patients (particularly from Colombia, Trinidad, or Guyana) who prefer a Spanish-speaking oncologist with strong academic credentials. Her international telemedicine appointment allows her to maintain continuity of care with diaspora patients who began treatment with her in Caracas and have since relocated abroad.

For patients considering oncology care at Hospital de Clínicas Caracas, Dr. Reyes provides honest pre-consultation guidance on what treatments and diagnostics are currently available in the Venezuelan private sector, and where international referral may be the preferred option. She can facilitate introductions to trusted oncology colleagues in Colombia (Bogotá, Medellín) or Panama for patients whose treatment needs exceed what is feasibly available in Caracas, ensuring continuity of clinical guidance across borders. All international consultations can be conducted via secure video platform in Spanish or English.

Dr. Reyes has been recognised by the Sociedad Venezolana de Oncología (SVO) for her sustained contributions to clinical oncology practice and education in Venezuela across a difficult period of institutional and economic challenge. She has served on SVO scientific committees and has been invited as faculty at national oncology educational events organised by the society.

Her commitment to maintaining international clinical standards within Hospital de Clínicas Caracas — including through her ASCO membership, international tumour board participation, and telemedicine practice — has been cited by colleagues as an example of resilience and professional dedication under adverse conditions. She holds active board certification in medical oncology and continues to be an important clinical resource for Venezuelan patients and physicians navigating oncology care access in a challenging healthcare environment.