Biomarker Bulletin is an occasionally recurring update of news focused on biomarkers aggregated at BiomarkerCommons.org. Biomarkers are physical, functional or biochemical indicators of normal physiological or disease processes. The individualization of disease management — personalized medicine — is dependent on developing biomarkers that promote specific clinical domains, including early detection, risk, diagnosis, prognosis and predicted response to therapy.

• Biomarker Commons Named World Companion Diagnostics Summit Media Partner

  Diagnostics used to select patients for treatment with a particular therapeutic or determine what and/or how treatment will be administered have been termed companion diagnostics. Companion diagnostics hold great promise for personalized medicine. A companion diagnostic is a biomarker(s) used in a specific context that provides biological and/or clinical information that enables better decision making about the development and use of a potential therapeutic. Given the significance of companion diagnostics, I’m proud to announce Biomarker Commons’ first media partnership with the 4th World Companion Diagnostics Summit.

• Personalized Medicine or Patient-centered Care?

  Personalized medicine is a term used in science and medicine that holds significant promise of administering medicines specifically tailored to an individual’s genome or metabolism. However, an editorial published yesterday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) suggests that the term creates an image for the public that is completely opposite of science and technology and sets up unrealistic expectations.

• FDA, EMA Seek Input on Companion Diagnostics, Genomic Biomarkers

  Regulators in the U.S. and Europe have each posted requests for public comment on issues affecting the development of medicines by drug companies.

• FDA Issues New Guidelines on Clinical and Nonclinical Genomic Biomarkers

  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued new guidelines on biomarkers related to drug or biotechnology product development. The guidance was developed within the Efficacy Working Group of the International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH).

• Neuroimaging Identifies an Endophenotype and Candidate Biomarker for Autism

  In response to facial expression of emotional, a similar pattern of brain activity is observed in both people with autism and their unaffected siblings. Researchers from the University of Cambridge recently used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a specialized MRI scan used to measure the change in blood flow related to neural activity in the brain, to show that reduced activity in areas of the brain associated with empathy and face processing is a candidate biomarker for familial risk of autism. The findings were published online recently in the journal Translational Psychiatry.

Key cells in the brain region known as the hippocampus are formed in the base of the brain late in fetal life and undertake a long journey before reaching their final destination in the center of the brain shortly after birth, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Most of us take everyday adult life for granted; we have a place to live, access to transportation and the opportunity to live independently. The same can most likely be said for those of us with adult children. The basics are covered. But what happens if you’re one of the millions of adults living with a developmental disability in this country? What if you’re the parent and caregiver to an adult child with a disability? How is your life different? Are the basics covered?

When people with disabilities turn 21, they and their families are no longer eligible for the services and supports provided by law through the school system. To determine how this affects them, Easter Seals — the nonprofit, community-based health agency dedicated to helping children and adults with disabilities attain greater independence — commissioned Harris Interactive to perform an online poll of adults with disabilities and their parents [1]. The primary goals of the study were to call attention to the challenges these people face, help service providers better respond to their needs, and heighten awareness of the needs of adults living with disabilities and their families.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) researchers now can use data from over 10,000 participants enrolled in ASD studies. The National Database for Autism Research (NDAR), created by the National Institutes of Health, recently made the data available. Researchers can now use the NDAR portal to perform queries that simultaneously yield results from multiple datasets. The portal was designed to provide tools to define and standardize data collected by different laboratories under different protocols. It was also built to ensure a collaborative approach and open data access to the whole ASD research community.

Health Highlights is a biweekly summary of particularly interesting articles from credible sources of health and medical information that we follow & read. For a complete list of recommeded sources, see our links page.

• Health Sites: Some Are More Equal Than Others | e-Patients.net

  One of Google’s initiatives is to guide consumers to credible health information. However, Google Health’s OneBox doesn’t treat all health sites the same.

• Alcohol causes cancer, and here’s the evidence | Cancer Research UK – Science Update

  Although everyone knows about the short-term effects of excessive drinking, the long-term effects are often overlooked. Ed Yong at Cancer Research UK discusses the science of alcohol and cancer.

• iPad For Medicine Is About The Software | Doctor Anonymous

  In the midst of excitement surrounding the Apple iPad, Dr. Anonymous reminds us that, when it comes to medicine, it’s all about the software.

• 5 Ideas About Feedback & Behavior Change, Supported by Evidence | The Decision Tree

  Thomas Goetz discusses the benefits of feedback and behavior change, and the research to support each claim.

• What kind of Internet user are you? | BPS Research Digest

  Does your Internet use reflect your personality? BPS Research Digest reviews a study that evaluated how people with certain personality types use the Web.

• Exercise Today, Reap The Benefits Later In Life! | Healthcare Hacks

  A new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that development of age-related chronic diseases and disabilities is not inevitable if people are physically active in their midlives.

• Andrew Wakefield “Acted Unethically” | NeuroLogica Blog

  Following a two-and-a-half year ethics investigation, the General Medical Council (GMC), which registers doctors to practice medicine in the UK, has concluded that Andrew Wakefield, the UK researcher who suggested a link between autism spectrum disorders and MMR vaccination, acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly” in his research.

• 17 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight | Mark’s Daily Apple

  Do you exercise? Are you currently on a diet but can’t seem to shed the pounds? Mark Sisson runs down the reasons you’re not losing weight.

• Two drugs show best treatment possibility for MS | Mind Hacks

  A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine reports on two new drugs for the treatment of multiple sclerosis that are more effective than existing modalities. Vaughan Bell reviews the findings.