Cancer Biomarker Research and Personalized Medicine

<p>Biomarkers are measures of a biological state. The treatment of individual patients based on particular factors such as biomarkers distinguishes standard generalized treatment plans from personalized medicine. Even though personalized medicine is applicable to most branches of medicine the field of oncology is perhaps where it is most easily employed. Cancer is a heterogeneous disease; although patients may be diagnosed histologically with the same cancer type their tumors can comprise varying tumor microenvironments and molecular characteristics that can impact treatment response and prognosis. There has been a major drive over the past decade to try and realize personalized cancer medicine through the discovery and use of disease-specific biomarkers. This book entitled Cancer Biomarker Research and Personalized Medicine encompasses 22 publications from colleagues working on a diverse range of cancers including prostate breast ovarian head and neck liver gastric bladder colorectal and kidney. The biomarkers assessed in these studies include genes intracellular or secreted proteins exosomes DNA RNA miRNA circulating tumor cells circulating immune cells in addition to radiomic features.</p>