Biomarker Commons

As we've done in previous years here at Biomarker Commons (AACR 2011 and AACR 2012), here's a roundup of eight research studies on cancer biomarkers that were presented last month at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

When Colin Hill’s father was diagnosed with later-stage prostate cancer last summer, he was treated the same as every other patient with the illness.

This standardized approach bothered Hill, who believes medicine should approach each patient’s illness as unique, with medication tailored to the person’s history and biology.

“You show up to the hospital, and it’s like Groundhog Day,” Hill said, with patients being cared for the same way, over and over again. “It’s this outdated standard of care created for this hypothetical average patient. But no one’s an average patient.”

Two independent validation studies demonstrate that Pronota’s biomarker CD146 significantly improves the diagnosis of acute heart failure for patients with shortness of breath. The biomarker, measured in blood, provides clinicians with unique additional information allowing better treatment of this challenging group of patients.

Current diagnosis for acute heart failure is limited

A new system for isolating rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) – living solid tumor cells found at low levels in the bloodstream – shows significant improvement over previously developed devices and does not require prior identification of tumor-specific target molecules. Developed at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Engineering in Medicine and the MGH Cancer Center, the device rapidly delivers a population of unlabeled tumor cells that can be analyzed with both standard clinical diagnostic cytopathology and advanced genetic and molecular technology.

The emergence of molecular diagnostic testing in lung cancer offers new hope for patients battling the number one cancer killer in the United States and abroad. Now, for the first time after a decade of biomarker testing in lung cancer, a uniform approach for testing for the EGFR mutation and ALK rearrangement along with the availability of targeted therapies offer lung cancer patients the chance for improved quality of life and more time with their loved ones.