How biomarkers are helping to push forward the boundaries of medical research
Over recent years, biomarkers have come to the fore and more is known now about them than ever before
. Their impact on the world of medical research has already been profound, but now more data is needed to ensure that bank of knowledge continues to grow and progress continues to be made.
The continued integration of biomarkers into the research process is important to ensure that new data and evidence is produced to support their role in the fields of drug development and clinical trials. Thankfully there are companies all over the world that have committed themselves to using biomarkers in the medical research process and are spending money and time increasing their knowledge of them. This is vital if biomarkers are to achieve regulatory status which will in turn allow for them to be used in the clinical trials process.
Research into cancer is one area where biomarkers are proving to be of use to scientists. The disease is a major killer in the UK and it is now estimated that more than one in three people will develop some form of the disease during their lifetime. Biomarkers are now being used by researchers to help spot the early signs of certain forms of cancer and this will hopefully lead to patients receiving help in the early stages before the disease takes hold. With around 300,000 new cases of cancer being diagnosed each year in Britain, it is vital that efforts are made to speed up the rate of research and increase knowledge as quickly as possible.
There are of course commercial reasons why biomarkers are being used by companies everywhere. As they are capable of shortening the development process by identifying unsuitable drug variations in the early stages, companies can save considerable amounts of money as they do not waste time further developing drugs that will fail eventually in any case. Cost savings are important for all companies, but when millions of pounds are at stake then it all starts to become a little more serious. Clearly time and money saved in one area can be ploughed into other projects, which may prove to be more fruitful.
There is still much work to do with regard to cancer biomarkers and biomarkers UK information in general, but progress is being made and as more time and money is spent on this area, the more we will learn.
How biomarkers are helping to push forward the boundaries of medical research