Abstract

CRUZ TAPIAS, Paola Andrea; VILLEGAS GALVEZ, Victoria Eugenia  and  RAMIREZ CLAVIJO, Sandra Rocío. Biological basis and clinical application of serum tumor markers. Rev. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2008, vol.6, n.2, pp.85-98. ISSN 1692-7273.

Cancer is the result of the accumulation of changes in molecules with important functions in processes such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell death and gene repair. Molecules, substances or altered pathways constitute tumor markers or biomarkers useful in clinical monitoring of cancer patients, because they have demonstrated to be suitable for the valuation of the patient's treatment and it efficiency. Determination of tumor markers has not been very successful due to the low sensitivity and specificity of the techniques used and the requirement of large volumes of biological samples or the use of invasive methods for collecting them. The serum tumor markers arise, as a useful tool to obtain information about the disease progress and constitute as a scientific challenge to improve its applicability in early diagnosis, prognosis, monitoring of the disease and evaluation of therapeutic efficacy.

Keywords : biological tumor markers/serum markers; diagnostic use; classification.