Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jul 23;12(8):1021.
doi: 10.3390/biom12081021.

Molecular Biomarkers in Cancer

Virinder Kaur Sarhadi  1 , Gemma Armengol  2
Affiliations
Review

Molecular Biomarkers in Cancer

Virinder Kaur Sarhadi et al. Biomolecules. .

Abstract

Molecular cancer biomarkers are any measurable molecular indicator of risk of cancer, occurrence of cancer, or patient outcome. They may include germline or somatic genetic variants, epigenetic signatures, transcriptional changes, and proteomic signatures. These indicators are based on biomolecules, such as nucleic acids and proteins, that can be detected in samples obtained from tissues through tumor biopsy or, more easily and non-invasively, from blood (or serum or plasma), saliva, buccal swabs, stool, urine, etc. Detection technologies have advanced tremendously over the last decades, including techniques such as next-generation sequencing, nanotechnology, or methods to study circulating tumor DNA/RNA or exosomes. Clinical applications of biomarkers are extensive. They can be used as tools for cancer risk assessment, screening and early detection of cancer, accurate diagnosis, patient prognosis, prediction of response to therapy, and cancer surveillance and monitoring response. Therefore, they can help to optimize making decisions in clinical practice. Moreover, precision oncology is needed for newly developed targeted therapies, as they are functional only in patients with specific cancer genetic mutations, and biomarkers are the tools used for the identification of these subsets of patients. Improvement in the field of cancer biomarkers is, however, needed to overcome the scientific challenge of developing new biomarkers with greater sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value.

Keywords: biomolecules; cancer biomarkers; diagnostic biomarkers; predictive biomarkers; risk assessment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Different biomolecules for detecting cancer biomarkers. ALK fusions in lung tumor tissue detected as (a) DNA by fluorescence in situ hybridization, (b) RNA by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, and (c) protein by immunohistochemistry. Figure modified from Tuonen et al. [15], (open access) under Creative Commons Attribution License.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic steps on the search for new biomarkers.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. [(accessed on 22 February 2022)]; Available online: https://www.Cancer.Gov/Publications/Dictionaries/Cancer-Terms/Def/Tumor-....
    1. Schienda J., Church A.J., Corson L.B., Decker B., Clinton C.M., Manning D.K., Imamovic-Tuco A., Reidy D., Strand G.R., Applebaum M.A., et al. Germline Sequencing Improves Tumor-Only Sequencing Interpretation in a Precision Genomic Study of Patients With Pediatric Solid Tumor. JCO Precis. Oncol. 2021;5:PO.21.00281. doi: 10.1200/PO.21.00281. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Akras Z., Bungo B., Leach B.H., Marquard J., Ahluwalia M., Carraway H., Grivas P., Sohal D.P.S., Funchain P. Primer on Hereditary Cancer Predisposition Genes Included within Somatic Next-Generation Sequencing Panels. JCO Precis. Oncol. 2019;3:1–11. doi: 10.1200/PO.18.00258. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Slade D. PARP and PARG Inhibitors in Cancer Treatment. Genes Dev. 2020;34:360–394. doi: 10.1101/gad.334516.119. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Huang K.-L., Mashl R.J., Wu Y., Ritter D.I., Wang J., Oh C., Paczkowska M., Reynolds S., Wyczalkowski M.A., Oak N., et al. Pathogenic Germline Variants in 10,389 Adult Cancers. Cell. 2018;173:355–370.e14. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.039. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances