Molecular screening of cancer: the future is here

The remarkable growth in our knowledge of the biology of cancer is leading to the identification of previously elusive pathways and networks involved in cancer causation. The development of technologies has played a pivotal role in furthering this understanding and appreciation of the complexity of tumorigenesis, and is advancing efforts to fully grasp the biology and exploit the knowledge for improvements in cancer detection, prevention, and therapy. The future of molecular screening, i.e. detection of risk or cancer via molecular determinants, has never been so close to a reality. Molecular assays employed in cancer detection and therapy are likely to revolutionize cancer treatment through individual-based diagnosis and treatment, i.e. personalized medicine. A number of detection techniques, such as the detection of aberrant DNA and RNA, the presence of auto-antibodies in serum or plasma, and protein profiling, are already in limited use for patient stratification for clinical trials and for predicting drug response.