Biomarkers are powerful tools that provide valuable insights into a person's health status and disease risk. By measuring and tracking biomarkers, doctors and researchers can make more informed decisions about prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of various diseases.
Some common examples of biomarkers include:
- Blood pressure
- Heart rate
- Metabolic studies
- Genetic and histologic tests
- Proteins
- Antibodies
- DNA and RNA
Why do biomarkers matter?
In Early Detection, biomarkers can serve as early warning signs for diseases, allowing for earlier diagnosis and treatment. And this enables Personalized Medicine, by which identifying specific biomarkers, doctors can tailor treatments to a patient's individual biology and disease characteristics. Moreover, with the rise of value-based care, Treatment Monitoring is prominent whereas biomarkers can be used to track how well a patient is responding to a particular therapy over time.
On another note, Drug Development can also benefit since biomarkers are essential tools in medical research, helping scientists understand disease causes, test new drugs, and determine optimal treatment strategies.
What are the types of biomarkers?
Biomarkers can be categorized into seven distinct types, each serving a unique purpose in medical diagnostics and treatment:
1. Susceptibility/Risk Biomarkers: Indicate the likelihood of developing a disease, such as BRCA mutations for breast cancer.
2. Diagnostic Biomarkers: Confirm the presence of a disease, like prostate-specific antigen (PSA) for prostate cancer.
3. Prognostic Biomarkers: Predict disease progression or outcomes, such as Ki-67 levels in cancer.
4. Predictive Biomarkers: Help determine response to specific treatments, like EGFR mutations in lung cancer.
5. Monitoring Biomarkers: Track disease progression over time.
6. Pharmacodynamic Biomarkers: Assess the effects of a treatment on the body.
7. Surrogate Biomarkers: Serve as substitutes for clinical outcomes, like cholesterol levels in heart disease risk assessment[1][3][4].
How to identify biomarkers?
2 most popular methods to look into..but not limited to these two FYI
1. Deep Learning Networks: Researchers at the University of Waterloo developed a deep neural network called PointIso, achieving 98% accuracy in detecting peptide features, which are vital for identifying diseases like cancer and heart disease[1].
2. GIREMI Method: UCLA's GIREMI method allows for efficient identification of RNA editing sites and genetic mutations, aiding in the diagnosis of various diseases and paving the way for personalized treatment[5].
TO BE CONTINUED…
Wanna learn more? dig in
[1] Method for Identifying Disease Biomarkers with High Accuracy https://www.clinicallab.com/method-for-identifying-disease-biomarkers-with-high-accuracy-26024
[2] 7 Types of Biomarkers - Atlas Antibodies https://www.atlasantibodies.com/knowledge-hub/blog/7-types-of-biomarkers/?language=en
[3] Biomarkers: What Are They? - WebMD https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/biomarkers-overview
[4] Identifying potential new diagnostic biomarkers in the blood https://mndresearch.blog/2020/06/17/identifying-potential-new-diagnostic-biomarkers-in-the-blood/
[5] UCLA researchers devise new method to identify disease markers ... https://www.uclahealth.org/news/release/ucla-researchers-devise-new-method-to-identify-disease-markers-a-key-step-toward-personalized-medicine
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