Emerging molecular biomarkers—blood-based strategies to detect and monitor cancer

There is an urgent clinical requirement for the detection of early-stage cancer at a time point where curative treatment may be possible. Blood-based biomarkers are likely to be a key component of this detection and of staging and the monitoring of therapy outcomes. To achieve the full potential of these biomarkers international collaborations are required to provide robust, reproducible data that can then be rapidly translated into the clinic.