Biomarker Bulletin: September 23, 2013

Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes

Biomarker Bulletin is an occasionally recurring update of news focused on biomarkers aggregated at BiomarkerCommons.org. Biomarkers are physical, functional or biochemical indicators of normal physiological or disease processes. The individualization of disease management — personalized medicine — is dependent on developing biomarkers that promote specific clinical domains, including early detection, risk, diagnosis, prognosis and predicted response to therapy.

• Mount Sinai Launches First-ever Genetic Testing Program in the Primary Care Setting
  The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is partnering with the Institute for Family Health to launch the first-ever genetic testing program in the primary care setting to identify genetic risk for kidney disease in patients with hypertension.
• Researchers Agree that Alzheimer’s Test Results Could be Released to Research Participants
  A leading group of Alzheimer’s researchers contends that, as biomarkers to detect signals of the disease improve at providing clinically meaningful information, researchers will need guidance on how to constructively disclose test results and track how disclosure impacts both patients and the data collected in research studies. A survey conducted by a group including experts from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that a majority of Alzheimer’s researchers supported disclosure of results to study participants. The study is published online in Neurology.
• Promising Screening Tool for Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer
  Evaluating its change over time, CA-125, the protein long-recognized for predicting ovarian cancer recurrence, now shows promise as a screening tool for early-stage disease, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
• Comprehensive Parkinson’s Biomarker Test Has Prognostic and Diagnostic Value, Penn Medicine Team Reports
  Perelman School of Medicine researchers at the University of Pennsylvania report the first biomarker results reported from the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), showing that a comprehensive test of protein biomarkers in spinal fluid have prognostic and diagnostic value in early stages of Parkinson’s disease. The study is reported in JAMA Neurology.