title: The promise of biomarkers for personalized renal cancer care.
abstract: Biomarkers hold promise for personalizing renal cancer care by potentially identifying patients most likely to benefit from novel therapies. Porta and colleagues report that among subjects with advanced renal-cell carcinoma receiving sunitinib treatment, those with above-normal levels of the circulating biomarkers vascular endothelial growth factor and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin displayed significantly lower progression-free survival times. This Commentary reviews the current status of these biomarkers with respect to methodological issues, specificity, and biological plausibility.
authors.affiliation: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati , Ohio 45229-3039, USA. prasad.devarajan@cchmc.org
authors.forename: Prasad
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Devarajan
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D006801:Humans; D007211:Indoles; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009423:Nervous System Neoplasms; D010361:Patients; D011758:Pyrroles; D000077210:Sunitinib; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D007211:Indoles; D011758:Pyrroles; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000077210:Sunitinib