BIOMARKERS

Relevance: mains: G.S: paper III: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology.

Why in News?

  • A study has found that it is now possible to tell in advance if a person with oral cancer of the gum and cheek has lymph node metastasis even before surgery is undertaken.

What are biomarkers?

  • Biomarkers are molecules that indicate normal or abnormal process taking place in your body and may be a sign of an underlying condition or disease.
  • Various types of molecules, such as DNA (genes), proteins or hormones, can serve as biomarkers, since they all indicate something about your health.
  • Biomarkers may be produced by the cancer tissue itself or by other cells in the body in response to cancer.
  • They can be found in the blood, stool, urine, tumor tissue, or other tissues or bodily fluids.
  • Notably, biomarkers are not limited to cancer.
  • There are biomarkers for heart disease, multiple sclerosis, and many other diseases.

What are the uses of Biomarkers?

Medical use of Biomarkers

  • Biomarkers can be used to find out:

What will happen to you when you use a particular treatment

  • Or don’t use the treatment and
  • The risk of you developing certain medical conditions. Diagnostic use of Biomarkers
  • An example of a diagnostic use of biomarkers is the measurement of biomarkers in blood to tell if you’ve had a heart attack.
  • Measuring the levels of enzymes, hormones and proteins in your blood enables a doctor to determine the severity of your heart attack and how much damage your heart has suffered.

What is Cancer?

  • Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells anywhere in a body.
  • There are over 200 types of cancer.
  • Anything that may cause a normal body cell to develop abnormally potentially can cause cancer.
  • General categories of cancer-related or causative agents are as follows: chemical or toxic compound exposures, ionizing radiation, some pathogens, and human genetics.
  • Although there are many tests to screen and presumptively diagnose cancer, the definite diagnosis is made by examination of a biopsy sample of suspected cancer tissue.

Cancer staging is usually determined by numbering it from 1 to 4.

  • Most treatments include at least one of the following and may include all: surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.

What is Metastasis?

  • Metastasis means that cancer spreads to a different body part from where it started.
  • It is also called “metastatic cancer,” “advanced cancer,” or “stage 4 cancer.”
  • For example, a cancer that is large but has not spread to another body part can also be called advanced cancer or locally advanced cancer.

 

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