Biomarker News and Research

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A biomarker is a biological molecule found in blood, other body fluids, or tissues that is a sign of a normal or abnormal process, or of a condition or disease. A biomarker may be used to see how well the body responds to a treatment for a disease or condition. Also called molecular marker and signature molecule.

A DNA-based nanogel for targeted delivery of therapeutics

Current chemotherapy regimens slow cancer progression and save lives, but these powerful drugs affect both healthy and cancerous cells.

18 Nov 2020

LOX plays a number of key roles in promoting skin and organ fibrosis in scleroderma

A team of researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) has found that the molecule lysyl oxidase (LOX) plays a number of important roles in promoting skin and organ fibrosis in scleroderma, a connective tissue disorder.

17 Nov 2020

Accelerated biological aging not a risk factor for severe COVID-19, say researchers

A new study conducted by researchers at RWTH Aachen University in Germany has found no evidence to support the hypothesis that severe outcomes in cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be linked to accelerated biological aging.

17 Nov 2020

New technology to diagnose fatal disease in preemies granted FDA's Breakthrough Device Designation

A technology to diagnose a potentially fatal disease in premature infants invented by Sunyoung Kim, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, has been granted a Breakthrough Device Designation by the Food and Drug Administration.

16 Nov 2020

First-ever phase 3 advanced anal cancer trial opens for patient enrollment

The first randomized phase 3 clinical trial ever to be conducted in patients with advanced cancer of the anal canal is now open and enrolling patients.

16 Nov 2020

Metabolic biomarkers could predict COVID-19 severity

A new study suggests that metabolic biomarkers could possibly predict the severity of COVID-19 in patients.

16 Nov 2020

Study could pave the way for potential urine test to diagnose liver fibrosis

Fifty fragments of proteins, termed peptides, have been identified in the urine of liver fibrosis patients in a new study that could pave the way for a potential diagnostic urine test for the condition if further validated.

16 Nov 2020

Study: High-dose blood thinners have no additional benefit in COVID-19 patients

While COVID-19 infected patients should be treated with standard anticoagulation therapies, such as blood thinning medication, a new study by researchers at the George Washington University (GW) shows that anticoagulating patients at higher doses, without traditional medical indications to do so, may be ineffective and even harmful.

16 Nov 2020

Return of mice to home cage evokes significant rise in dopamine release, shows study

By monitoring a well-replicated biomarker associated with reward, a study by neuroscientists from Florida Atlantic University provides evidence that the old adage, "There's no place like home," has its roots deep in the brain.

12 Nov 2020

Study shows potential of new pinprick blood test for diagnosing HPV-related cancers

A potential breakthrough in the early detection of the neck, head and anal cancers linked to human papilloma viruses has emerged.

12 Nov 2020

Blood biomarker may predict prognosis, recovery from stroke

Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida and collaborators have found that a biomarker in the blood may determine the extent of brain injury from different types of strokes and predict prognosis in these patients.

11 Nov 2020

Microbes in the lungs could influence lung cancer progression and prognosis

Bottom Line: Enrichment of the lungs with oral commensal microbes was associated with advanced stage disease, worse prognosis, and tumor progression in patients with lung cancer.

11 Nov 2020

Innate immunity key to limiting viral load in COVID-19 cases

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to cause many difficulties for public health authorities, research is ongoing to understand how the virus can cause fatal effects on those infected and thereby suggest effective preventive and therapeutic measures against it.

8 Nov 2020

Rapid rise in CRP levels predicts COVID-19 outcomes

Predicting the course of a COVID-19 patient's disease after hospital admission is essential to improving treatment.

6 Nov 2020

Unrelated mutations can lead to false-positive results in men with advanced prostate cancer

Unrelated mutations, when present in the blood, can lead to false-positive results in men with advanced prostate cancer who are undergoing liquid biopsies.

5 Nov 2020

Antiangiogenic drugs increase the aggressiveness of some kidney tumors

Angiogenesis is the process by which tumors create new blood vessels that will provide them the nutrients to continue growing.

5 Nov 2020

AI speech processing framework detects inaudible COVID-19 cough

Now, a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found that asymptomatic people may differ from those who are healthy in the way they cough. The differences are inaudible to the human ear but can be detected by artificial intelligence (AI).

3 Nov 2020

Earwax sampling could be a cheap, effective way to measure stress hormone

A novel method to sample earwax could be a cheap and effective way to measure the hormone cortisol, according to a study led by researchers at UCL and King's College London.

3 Nov 2020

Biomarkers that are predictive of clinical benefit in Trop-2-expressing triple-negative breast cancer

Oncotarget recently published "Predictive biomarkers for sacituzumab govitecan efficacy in Trop-2-expressing triple-negative breast cancer" which reported that the authors investigated whether Trop-2-expression and homologous recombination repair of SN-38-mediated double-strand DNA breaks play a role in the sensitivity of triple-negative breast cancer to SG.

3 Nov 2020

Machine learning increases the accuracy of anti-cancer drug response predictions

With the advent of pharmacogenomics, machine learning research is well underway to predict the patients' drug response that varies by individual from the algorithms derived from previously collected data on drug responses.

2 Nov 2020