MMPs as diagnostic markers
A diagnostic marker is a molecule which can assist in diagnostic decision-making. Generally, the value of a diagnostic marker is determined by its ability to pick out patients with disease, the sensitivity, and its ability to leave out patients without disease, the specificity. In clinical practice,a number of different biomolecules are used in the diagnostics of cancer. Some of these can be detected in serum or urine and could therefore potentially be used as diagnostic markers in screening programs. However, to use a biomolecule as a tool to screen a general population, both the specificity and the sensitivity of the marker must be very high. If the marker molecule is used to select patients for further diagnostic procedures or to identify relapse in cancer patients, the sensitivity and specificity of the marker molecule may be lower.