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On the uses and abuses of biomarkers in clinical reasoning
1Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Canada; Department of Philosophy, Western University, London, Canada; Rotman Institute of Philosophy, London, Canada.
Abstract:
Biomarkers are central to the practice of precision oncology, which looks to novel biomarkers to 'personalize' cancer care. Philosophers have highlighted epistemic issues surrounding biomarkers but a general account of their role in clinical reasoning is lacking. This article examines biomarker use in clinical reasoning through the lens of abstraction. I propose clinical abstraction as a descriptive and normative account of reasoning with biomarkers that overcomes epistemic and ethical problems raised in the literature.
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