Which Biomarkers Matter for You and Why:
A Personalized Tool for Patients and Caregivers
What is Biomarker Testing?
Biomarkers are things about cancer cells that make them different from normal cells. These biomarkers can be proteins, genes, or gene changes called mutations. They can be measured in your blood, tissue, or bodily fluid. Biomarker testing is often used to help choose the best treatment for you.
How Does Testing Work?
- Sample collection: A sample (small amount of your cancer cells) is collected from your blood, bodily fluids, or tissue taken during a surgery or biopsy.
- Lab analysis: Your sample is sent to a specialized lab and looked at closely by a pathologist. This type of doctor is trained to examine tissue, blood, and fluid samples.
- Treatment guidance: Your doctor uses the results to build a treatment plan that’s right for you.
Understanding Your Results
Biomarkers are often referred to by short abbreviations. Common examples include ER (estrogen receptor) in breast cancer or EGFR in lung cancer.
- A positive test result (such as ER2+ or EGFR+) means your cancer cells have a specific protein or gene change driving the cancer's growth.
- Knowing this can help your doctor find treatment options that target that specific change. This may include clinical trials.
Biomarker testing is also called molecular testing, tumor profiling, somatic testing, or genomic testing of cancer cells. This is different from genetic testing, which looks for gene changes that are inherited or passed down through family members.
A Personalized Tool for Patients and Caregivers
Use this tool to learn which biomarker tests and results may matter for your cancer care. Answer the questions based on the cancer you are being treated for now. This may be a new diagnosis, cancer that has come back, or cancer that has spread to another part of the body.