OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

The aim is to provide proper treatment to the right patient.

The role of histopathology is to assess the accuracy of biomarkers, which is quite difficult and complicated. The role of the oncologist is to provide the most suitable treatment to the patient choosing among various standard therapies (e.g., hormonal therapy for ER / PR positive breast tumors, trastuzumab for Her-2 positive breast carcinomas).

The International Programme on Chemical Safety of the World Health Organization in collaboration with the United Nations and the International Labor Organization has designated as biomarker any substance, structure or process which can be measured in the body and can influence or predict the incidence of disease .

In simple words biomarker is any molecule in the blood, fluids and tissues, whose expression marks a physiological or pathological condition.

Biomarkers can be prognostic, predictive, or both.

Prognostic biomarkers are independent prognostic factors, so that the presence or absence of the biomarker is associated with the overall clinical outcome of a patient (i.e., risk of recurrence and mortality).
Predictive biomarkers, instead, can predict whether a patient will respond to a given therapy.