Cancer Biomarkers: The Promises and Challenges of Improving Detection and Treatment
Source: Institute of Medicine/National Academies Press
From press release:

Federal agencies and other research funders, academic scientists, and private industry should take a coordinated, comprehensive approach to research and development in cancer biomarkers, a field now hindered by piecemeal and unorganized efforts, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

Many scientists have long sought ways to diagnose cancers at an early, curable stage or to develop optimal therapies for individual patients. To that end, biomarkers – which are biological features, such as proteins or biochemicals, that flag the presence of disease or measure the effects of drug treatments – have been held up as promising tools in cancer care. But significant challenges, including a patchwork of standards for clinical use of cancer biomarkers and unclear regulatory authority over the field, have slowed progress, the report says.

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 30th, 2007 at 9:58 am and is filed under Diseases and conditions, Health and healthcare. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.