Oncologists use biomarkers鈥攂iological characteristics that indicate how well a person responds to a particular treatment鈥攖o make decisions about treatments and predict how well a person will respond to additional treatments. Douglas A. Levine, MD, gynecologic oncologist at 麻豆国产AV Langone鈥檚 Perlmutter Cancer Center and director of the , says the most important biomarker for ovarian cancer is the success of a patient鈥檚 first surgery.
鈥淔or women with advanced ovarian cancers, some people forget or overlook that your most important biomarker is your initial treatment,鈥 Dr. Levine tells SurvivorNet. 鈥淪urgical resection is a very important clinical biomarker, and remains to be the strongest biomarker of outcome for all women with advanced ovarian cancer.鈥
Other important biomarkers include age, where the treatment is received, and genetics of the tumor.
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