Biomarkers clinical relevance in cancer: Emphasis on breast cancer and prostate cancer

Cancer remains a major health problem in the world due to the dramatic increase in the number of cancer-related deaths in recent years. Biomarkers are biological candidates that are altered due to disease condition and can serve as indicators of the disease process. Identification of clinically useful biomarkers is very critical in cancer therapy especially for the early detection of disease which can reduce mortality and increase survival of life. Despite the serious concern and urgent need for the discovery of candidate tumor markers, the outcomes in developing credible biomarkers are remarkably low. Due to recent emergence of novel technologies, scientists are extensively conducting comprehensive analyses using multiple approaches including genomics and proteomics to address the issues related to low success rate and more disappointments in developing tumor markers with clinical significance. Both the government and public sectors are using their resources to focus on multiple approaches which could foster developing new biomarkers for diagnosis and early detection of cancer, thereby facilitating better understanding of cancer pathogenesis and advanced cancer care in a reasonable time frame. This review will focus on the relevance of biomarkers in cancer with a special emphasis on breast cancer and prostate cancer.