What Are the New Challenges of the Current Cancer Biomarkers?

Biomarkers are emerging research filed in the past decade. Even though numerous biomarkers were reported, the efficiency of cancer therapy remains low. So the question emerges as to how much can we trust the current biomarkers on cancer therapy? In this upcoming chapter, we would like to illustrate the outcomes of classical cancer therapies on advanced pancreatic cancer disclosed successful, neutral and failed in clinical trials. The analysis will be carried on the perspective interdisciplinary on the biomarkers including anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, biochemistry, history path and development of pharmacy. Particular in-depth insight may open a window for new researches and lighting the therapies

Diffusion along perivascular spaces as marker for impairment of glymphatic system in Parkinson’s disease

Abstract The brain glymphatic system is involved in the clearance of misfolding α-synuclein, the impaired glymphatic system may contribute to the progression of Parkinson’s disease (PD). We aimed to analyze the diffusion tensor image along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) and perivascular space (PVS) burden to reveal the relationship between the glymphatic system and PD. A cross-sectional study using a 7 T MRI of 76 PD patients and 48 controls was performed to evaluate the brain’s glymphatic system. The DTI-ALPS and PVS burden in basal ganglia were calculated. Correlation analyses were conducted between DTI-ALPS, PVS burden and clinical features. We detected lower DTI-ALPS in the PD subgroup relative to controls, and the differences were more pronounced in patients with Hoehn & Yahr stage greater than two. The decreased DTI-ALPS was only evident in the left hemisphere in patients in the early stage but involved both hemispheres in more advanced PD patients. Decreased DTI-ALPS were also correlated with longer disease duration, higher Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale motor score (UPDRS III) and UPDRS total scores, as well as higher levodopa equivalent daily dose. Moreover, the decreased DTI-ALPS correlated with increased PVS burden, and both indexes correlated with PD disease severity. This study demonstrated decreased DTI-ALPS in PD, which might initiate from the left hemisphere and progressively involve right hemisphere with the disease progression. Decreased DTI-ALPS index correlated with increased PVS burden, indicating that both metrics could provide supporting evidence of an impaired glymphatic system. MRI evaluation of the PVS burden and diffusion along PVS are potential imaging biomarkers for PD for disease progression