title: Cancer biomarker discovery: current status and future perspectives.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cancer is a multigene disease which arises as a result of mutational and epigenetic changes coupled with activation of complex signaling networks. The use of biomarkers for early cancer detection, staging and individualization of therapy might improve patient care. A few fundamental issues such as tumor heterogeneity, a highly dynamic nature of the intrinsic and extrinsic determinants of radio- and chemoresistance, along with the plasticity and diversity of cancer stem cells (CSC) make biomarker development a challenging task. In this review we outline the preclinical strategies of cancer biomarker discovery including genomic, proteomic, metabolomic and microRNomic profiling, comparative genome hybridization (CGH), single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis, high throughput screening (HTS) and next generation sequencing (NGS). Other promising approaches such as assessment of circulating tumor cells (CTC), analysis of CSC-specific markers and cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) are also discussed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The emergence of powerful proteomic and genomic technologies in conjunction with advanced bioinformatic tools allows the simultaneous analysis of thousands of biological molecules. These techniques yield the discovery of new tumor signatures, which are sensitive and specific enough for early cancer detection, for monitoring disease progression and for proper treatment selection, paving the way to individualized cancer treatment.
authors: OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Medical Faculty Dresden Carl Gustav Carus , TU Dresden , Germany.
authors: Katrin
authors: K
authors: Mäbert
authors: Monica
authors: M
authors: Cojoc
authors: Claudia
authors: C
authors: Peitzsch
authors: Ina
authors: I
authors: Kurth
authors: Serhiy
authors: S
authors: Souchelnytskyi
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Dubrovska
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor
keywords: Gene expression; cellular radiobiology; clinical radiobiology; gene therapy; genomic instability; radiosensitivity