Oncology Biomarker Diagnostics: Where We Are, Where We Need To Be-Identifying cancer biomarkers that are clinically useful is difficult So is obtaining funding to get biomarker diagnostics to market

摘要

Despite the promise of biomarkers for use in diagnosing cancer, there have been few commercialized biomarker diagnostics. Margaret Piper, PhD, MPH, director, genomics resources at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Technology Evaluation Center, points out that "oncology pathways are the result of accumulating mutations that disrupt normal pathways and cause changes in growth and metastases. This creates challenges in biomarker identification and validation." So, Piper says, it can be very difficult to tell which genetic mutations are most important - that is, which are more indicative of aggressiveness or impending metastases rather than "passenger" mutations. The individualized nature of different cancers in different people adds more complexity in terms of the science.