Biomarkers and radiotherapy

Abstract

For a biomarker to be clinically useful there must be adequate preclinical data and have prevalence in the disease of interest. Early research focused on molecules implicated in the cell cycle, DNA repair pathways, and apoptosis as radiation is known to affect such pathways. More recent data has focused on big data, i.e.-omics (genomics, proteomics, etc.) to find a molecular signature that predicts response to radiation as well as identify those who may have increased risk of radiation induced toxicities. While many potential biomarkers in assessing radiation response have been researched this chapter is a start to providing information on biomarkers used in clinical practice.