Cancer biomarkers: current issues and future directions.
Cancer biomarkers and characteristics of an ideal biomarker for cancer are discussed in this review, as well as technologies for their detection. The focus of this article is on the use of biomarkers for anticancer drug development and clinical applications, including determination of prognosis as well as monitoring of response to therapy. Types of biomarkers include methylated DNA sequences, mitochondrial DNA and microRNA. Within clinical research, oncology is expected to have the largest gains from biomarkers over the next five to ten years. Development of personalized medicine for cancer is closely linked to biomarkers, which may serve as the basis for diagnosis, drug discovery and monitoring of diseases. A major challenge in development of cancer biomarkers will be the integration of proteomics with genomics and metabolomics data and their functional interpretation in conjunction with clinical data and epidemiology.
Jain PharmaBiotech, Blaesiring 7, CH-4057 Basel, Switzerland. Email: jain@pharmabiotech.ch
Kewal K
KK
Jain
D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000639:trends; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D040901:Proteomics / Q000639:trends
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor