Cancer Biomarkers: Clinical Aspects and Laboratory Determination

Dr. Lakshmi V. Ramanathan is the Service Chief of Clinical Chemistry in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Prior to joining Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Ramanathan was the Director of Chemistry at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. She is a licensed laboratory Director in the State of New York. Dr. Ramanathan obtained her PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry and Metabolism at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Her interests include laboratory automation and biomarkers in cancer diagnostics as well as teaching Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine to residents and fellows. She is very active in the American Association of Clinical Chemistry, is the founding Chair of the Tumor Markers Cancer Diagnostics Division and was the past chair of the New York metro section. Dr. Martin Fleisher is currently Emeritus in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. During his tenure at MSKCC he served as Chief and Director of the Clinical Chemistry Laboratory and Chair of the Department of Clinical Laboratories. Dr. Fleisher is a licensed Laboratory Director in the States of New York. Dr. Fleisher received his B.A. degree from Harper College, State University of New York (now Binghamton University). He was awarded a Masters and Doctorate degrees in Biochemistry, with honors, from New York University. As a graduate fellow at the New York University School of Medicine in the Departments of Biochemistry and Physiology, his doctoral research focused on protein chemistry and specifically enzymology. He is considered an expert in biomarker assay development and validation. Dr. Fleisher has over 200 publications, including five chapters, on his research, and has edited a book on the Clinical Biochemistry of Cancer. He holds five US patents. Professor Duffy who is based at St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin and University College Dublin, has an international reputation for his research in cancer biomarkers. He has published over 250 papers on this topic, including articles in high impact journals such as Lancet, BMJ, J Natl Cancer Instit, Cancer Res, Clin Cancer Res, Ann Oncol and Clin Chem. Professor Duffy received his BSc (Hons) from the National University of Ireland at Galway (Ireland) and his PhD from the University of Manchester (UK). In 2012, Professor Duffy was the recipient of the 2012 Abbott Award of the International Society of Oncology and BioMarkers (ISOBM). Other awards received by Professor Duffy include the St Luke’s Medal Lecture, the Conway Review Medal Lecture and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland and the National Committee for Biochemistry Award Medal Lecture of the Royal Irish Academy.

• 1. Overview of tumor markers, traditional and non-traditional (include glycans)2. Laboratory testing in pediatric cancer patients3. The adult cancer patient: overview and current laboratory testing4. Thyroglobulin measurement: its importance in monitoring and recurrence of thyroid cancer5. PSA, long term prognosis6. Monoclonal gammopathy detection and current technologies7. Liquid biopsy potential and challenges8. CAR T therapies and the management of toxicity9. Validating circulating tumor cells and cell free DNA as an LDT for use in the clinic10. Saliva as a matrix for measurement of biomarkers11. Emerging technologies in the detection and monitoring of cancer12. Oncometabolites13. Circulating cancer biomarkers: current status and future prospects