Table 2.

Characteristics of the ideal response biomarker

Sufficiently sensitive to detect even minor responses that induce disease stabilization.

Specific. Its absence accurately reflects chemoresistance.

Appears rapidly as a result of a response to therapy.

Agnostic to class of antineoplastic drugs.

Applicable to all tumor types.

Easy to measure, amenable to high-throughput testing.

Inexpensive.

Measurement is convenient to the patient and physician.