Objective: The goals of this review are to provide background information on the definitions and applications of the general term "biomarker" and to highlight the specific roles of breast imaging biomarkers in research and clinical breast cancer care. A search was conducted of the main electronic biomedical databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, MEDLINE [Ovid], Scopus, and Web of Science). The search was focused on review literature in general radiology and biomedical sciences and on reviews and primary research articles on biomarkers in breast imaging over the 15 years ending in June 2017. The keywords included "biomarker," "trial endpoints," "breast imaging," "breast cancer," "radiomics," and "precision medicine" in the titles and abstracts of the papers.
Conclusion: Clinical breast care and breast cancer-related research rely on imaging biomarkers for decision support. In the era of precision medicine and big data, the practice of radiology is likely to change. A closer integration of breast imaging with related biomedical fields and the creation of large integrated and shareable databases of clinical, molecular, and imaging biomarkers should allow the field to continue guiding breast cancer care and research.
Keywords: biomarkers; breast cancer; precision medicine; radiomics; trial endpoints.