Affiliations: Departments of Pathology and Medicine, School of
Medicine | Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health
and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Dr. Cathy W. Critchlow, Ph.D.,
University of Washington, HPV Research Group, 1914 N. 34th Street, Suite 300,
Seattle, WA 98103, USA. Tel.: +1 206 616 9785; Fax: +1 206 616 9788; E-mail:
[email protected]
Abstract: Implementation of routine cancer screening accompanied by treatment
of early stage disease is paramount to realizing reductions in cancer mortality
rates. While morphologic assessment of relevant cells has traditionally been
used to identify individuals with cancer, this approach is not feasible to
identify cancers at inaccessible sites, such as the ovary or pancreas. For
these and many other cancers, cancer mortality remains high, as sensitive and
specific screening assays to detect in-situ or early stage disease are as yet
unavailable. Identification of novel markers for early identification of cancer
is an established priority of the National Cancer Institute. The rapid
expansion of genomic-based technologies developed over the last decade, and the
development of sensitive and specific blood-based assays for the detection of
molecular changes associated with cancer, begin to offer the means for
achieving this goal. Below, we review current approaches used in the effort to
identify biomarkers appropriate for early cancer detection.
Keywords: cancer biomarkers, genomic-based screening, early cancer detection
