Diagnostics and biomarkers

‘Liquid biopsy’ guides PARP inhibitor treatment of prostate cancer

Analysis of circulating free tumour DNA in blood shows how well cancer therapy is working and can inform further treatment.…

Protein can assess and predict progression of Huntington’s disease

Researchers identify biomarker that offers a means of predicting and tracking neuronal damage in patients with Huntington’s disease.…

What impact will personalised medicine have on pharmacy?

Gino Martini, a representative of the RPS Pharmaceutical Sciences External Advisory Panel and recently appointed chair of the RPS Industrial Pharmacy Forum, discusses the increasingly important impact of personalised medicines on pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. …

Blood test could identify patients who won’t respond to antidepressants

Researchers show that measuring inflammatory markers may help to identify patients less responsive to antidepressants.…

Taking low-dose aspirin during cancer treatment cuts deaths

Researchers say low-dose aspirin has a beneficial role as add-on to cancer treatment.…

Two peptides predict cardiomyopathy after brain haemorrhage

Swedish PhD student finds biomarkers that can identify subarachnoid haemorrhage patients at risk of cardiomyopathy.…

Liquid biopsy predicts treatment resistance in advanced prostate cancer

Patients with prostate cancer could be selected for alternative treatments using liquid biopsy, researchers say.…

Third of men with advanced prostate cancer could benefit from olaparib

A third of men with advanced prostate cancer could benefit from a drug currently licensed for women with ovarian cancer, according to the “remarkable” results of a study.…

Blood test could monitor tumour’s response to treatment

A blood test could match patients to experimental drugs that target their specific tumour mutations, accelerating the development of new cancer treatments, according to a first-of-a-kind study.…

Sequencing cancer genomes to tailor treatments to individual patients

Screening for hundreds of mutations in tumours is the most promising route to customised drug treatments for cancer.…