Editorial

Editorial Editorial (3008) Total Article Views Authors: Khong HT Published Date April 2011 Volume 2011:1 Pages 1 - 2 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/CBF.S18327 Hung T Khong University of South Alabama, Mitchell Cancer institute, Mobile, AL, USA With the completion of the human genome project and the explosion of knowledge derived from genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and other-omics, there are a vast and ever increasing number of potential druggable targets and therapeutic candidates. Each of these targets can be considered a potential biomarker that serves as a risk assessment tool and/or a biological predictor of prognosis and treatment outcome. For example, the risk of developing breast cancer in a woman who has inherited a deleterious breast cancer antigen (BRCA)1 mutation is five times that of a woman in the general population.1 When cells are damaged by chemotherapy, DNA damages are often repaired by the BRCA pathway. In cells that are deficient in BRCA functionality, an alternative pathway such as the base excision repair pathway is utilized. This pathway is dependent on poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) being fully functional.2 Therefore, BRCA1-deficient cancer cells are exquisitely sensitive to the combination of PARP inhibitor and chemotherapy.3,4 In this case, BRCA1 serves as a biomarker for both risk of developing breast cancer and favorable outcome to certain treatments. Post to: Cannotea Citeulike Del.icio.us Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Readers of this article also read: Radiolucency below the crown of mandibular horizontal incompletely impacted third molars and acute inflammation in men with diabetes Alogliptin: a new addition to the class of DPP-4 inhibitors Intercellular cancer collisions generate an ejected crystal comet tail effect with fractal interface embryoid body reassembly transformation Impact and cost of a 2-week community-based screening and awareness program for diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors in a Swiss canton Comparison of two treatments for coxarthrosis: local hyperthermia versus radio electric asymmetrical brain stimulation Biomarkers of drug-induced liver injury Microaneurysm turnover in the macula is a biomarker for development of clinically significant macular edema in type 2 diabetes The search for common pathways underlying asthma and COPD Biomarkers of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: impact on diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis Ovarian cancer biomarkers as diagnostic triage tests