{{Short description, Cancer biomarker discovery project
The Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) is a collaboration led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) focused on the discovery of
cancer biomarker
A cancer biomarker refers to a substance or process that is indicative of the presence of cancer in the body. A biomarker may be a molecule secreted by a tumor or a specific response of the body to the presence of cancer. Genetic, epigenetic, pr ...
s. The effort, started in 2000, includes both principal investigators and associate members from leading research institutions across the United States.
The objectives of EDRN include:
* Developing and testing promising biomarkers and technologies to obtain preliminary information to guide further testing;
* Evaluating promising, analytically proven biomarkers and technologies, such as measures of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and, when possible, as potential predictors of outcomes or surrogate endpoints for clinical trials;
* Analyzing biomarkers and their expression patterns to serve as background for large, definitive validation studies;
* Collaborating with academic and industrial leaders to develop high-throughput, sensitive
assay
An assay is an investigative (analytic) procedure in laboratory medicine, mining, pharmacology, environmental biology and molecular biology for qualitatively assessing or quantitatively measuring the presence, amount, or functional activity of a ...
methods;
* Conducting early phases of clinical and epidemiological biomarker studies; and
* Encouraging collaboration and dissemination of information to ensure progress and avoid fragmentation of effort.
Since 2000, EDRN has established a national infrastructure to support validation of cancer biomarkers through innovative research and technology approaches. EDRN supports validation of some of the most promising proteomic and genomic markers evaluating their results for continued research. The biomarkers must be reliable and repeatable in testing; highly sensitive and specific; quantitative; readily obtained by non-invasive methods; part of the causal pathway for disease; capable of being modulated by the chemopreventive agent; and have high predictive value for clinical disease.
The EDRN is organized to perform research around specific organ sites. Research teams within and outside EDRN are established to develop protocols of study around each of these organ sites. Within the EDRN, collaborations are established so researchers involved in specific organs can work together and study results. These organ groups include breast and gynecologic cancers,
colorectal
The large intestine, also known as the large bowel, is the last part of the gastrointestinal tract and of the digestive system in tetrapods. Water is absorbed here and the remaining waste material is stored in the rectum as feces before being ...
and other
gastrointestinal cancer
Gastrointestinal cancer refers to malignant conditions of the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) and accessory organs of digestion, including the esophagus, stomach, biliary system, pancreas, small intestine, large intestine, rectum and anus. The ...
s,
Lung
The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of t ...
and upper aerodigestive cancers, prostate and other
urologic cancer
Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''-logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary-tract system and the reproductive orga ...