🕗Understanding Biomarkers in Modern Medicine Ep. 307

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Dr. Michael Koren joins Kevin Geddings to explain biomarkers, which he describes as biological indicators that may mark the presence of disease. Researchers are increasingly looking at biomarkers for their potential in early detection of disease before symptoms appear. Dr. Koren brings it home with a personal story of how current research studies looking into lung cancer biomarkers may have real-world effects for participants.

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Music: Storyblocks - Corporate Inspired

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Episode Transcript

Announcer (00:00):
Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio
Show hosted by Kevin Gettings ofWSOS St Augustine Radio and
powered by ENCORE Research Group.
Each Monday morning, Dr.
Michael Koren calls in to bringyou the latest medical updates
with insightful discussions.
MedEvidence is where we helpyou navigate the real truth
behind medical research, withboth a clinical and research

(00:20):
perspective.
So sit back, relax and getready to learn about the truth
behind the data in medicine andhealthcare.
This is MedEvidence!

Kevin Geddings (00:30):
Dr.
Michael Koren, of course,medical doctor, cardiologist,
research scientist, and directsthe Show at ENCORE Research
Group.
Go to EncoreDocs.
com.
We're going to talk aboutMedEvidence, which he leads the
effort with that as well, injust a moment.
We wanted to talk, though,about biomarkers.
So that term gets thrown around, and we probably have even seen
it referenced on TV shows, butwhat are we exactly talking

(00:52):
about when we talk aboutbiomarkers?

Dr. Michael Koren (00:54):
Yeah, biomarkers is something a lot of
people have heard but maybedon't completely understand, and
it's basically simple.
Bio- is biological, it'ssomething that's alive, and a
"marker is something that markssomething, something that shows
you where something is.
So when you put those two wordstogether, we refer to this

(01:16):
concept of being able to do ablood test or something that
reflects biological activitythat marks a disease.
So a simple case thateverybody's probably familiar
with is the concept of a PSA, orprostate-specific antigen,
which is a protein that isassociated with diseases of the
prostate and is sometimes usedto help people understand if
they're at risk for prostatecancer.

(01:37):
It's not the best marker,because people that have an
enlarged prostate for benignreasons may have elevations of
their PSA.
So it's not specific for cancer, but nonetheless it is a test,
a blood test that looks at abiological concept, ie a protein
that circulates, and it marksor shows us that there's

(01:59):
something going on in theprostate.
So, again, a biomarker, butpeople are interested in making
this concept much more specific.
So we want to come up withbiomarkers that are really,
really good at identifying badthings like cancer, hopefully at
the very earliest stages.
And this is a little personalfor me, Kevin.

(02:19):
I have to admit that One of mybest friends in fact my best
friend growing up in grammarschool and junior high school,
was a fellow who recently diedof lung cancer.
And unfortunately he was postingon social media and sharing
with my close group of friends,who I've known since I'm a kid,

(02:39):
that he was quote in the bestshape of his life, living in
South Florida, walking on thebeach and just loving life.
And unfortunately, six monthsafter posting this picture he
was dead from complications oflung cancer.
And obviously there's a verystrong likelihood he had lung
cancer when he was posting thesepictures but just didn't know

(03:00):
it.
So one of my missions is to bepart of an effort to come up
with a better biomarker sopeople like my friend would be
able to identify whether or notthey have a problem.
And again, my friend was alifelong smoker, so it's not a
huge surprise.
But as far as he knew, at age65, he was doing great and he

(03:23):
was somebody that thought thatthey had many years to live and
maybe if we had a biomarker thatidentified his problem, we
would have picked it up in theearly stage and be able to cure
it.
So that's the goal and in fact,we're about to start a study
that's looking exactly at thatsituation.
So we are very excited to bepart of this program that will

(03:44):
be looking at a verysophisticated biomarker looking
at circulating DNA in thebloodstream to determine if
somebody has early signs of lungcancer, and this is focused on
helping people who smoke or haverecently quit smoking to
determine whether or not they'reat risk.
And, by the way, biomarkers areoften used to distinguish a

(04:06):
medical test from an x-ray orfrom CAT scan, so we call those
type of tests that look forthings like lung cancer as
imaging tests.
So biomarkers are going to bechemical tests of biological
activity rather than imagingtests.

Kevin Geddings (04:22):
Interesting.
Well people I guess will havethat opportunity over time to
participate in that kind ofresearch and also all sorts of
other types of studies ENCOREResearch Group does here locally
in Northeast Florida, correct.

Dr. Michael Koren (04:33):
Absolutely, and again, this is our whole
concept of research as a careoption.
So, for example, if you smoke,or you have stopped smoking but
have a smoking history and areinterested in this program, we
could screen you for it, butthat might not be the best fit
for you.
There may be other things thatwe're doing that would be a
better fit.
For example, we have a study ofpeople who cough and are not

(04:56):
sure why they're coughing, andwe have a medicine that may help
that.
We have studies looking atprotecting people against
lipoprotein little a, which is aform of very bad cholesterol
that is now treatable with newinvestigational products, and we
have studies looking at otherbiomarkers that are related to
heart disease rather than lungcancer.

(05:16):
So when a patient comes in, welook at that patient
holistically and help thatpatient figure out which program
may bring the biggest value.

Kevin Geddings (05:26):
Very good.
Well, if you'd like to learnhow you can participate in some
leading-edge clinical research,you can get compensated for your
time.
You'll also get all the healthcare benefits that Dr.
Koren was talking about, andmuch of this research is done
right here in St.
John's County at the WhetstoneBuilding right next door to UF
Flagler Hospital.
Go to EncoreDocs.
com.
That's EncoreDocs.
com.

(05:47):
Want to put a plug in there toofor MedEvidence, right, Dr.
Koren?

Dr. Michael Koren (05:52):
Yeah, it's growing rapidly.
We have probably over 100,000people with exposure to
mid-evidence at this point andwe're excited about that.
We had a big launch in theChicago market recently and so
far, so good there.
So people are finding more andmore that this is a place to get
really objective, interestinginformation about health care,

(06:13):
and it's a unique experiencebecause many of the programs are
two very knowledgeablephysicians speaking to an issue.
They may not agree exactly,Kevin, but they'll help people
understand what we know about aparticular area, what we don't
know about a particular area andhow to learn about the things
that we don't know.
So a great example of that isthis debate about alcohol use.
I heard a discussion over theweekend about this and we know

(06:38):
that alcohol use is associatedwith increased risk of breast
cancer, and GI cancers such asesophageal, stomach and colon
cancer, but there's also somedata showing that it may be
helpful in heart disease, aslong as you keep your use of
alcohol to low to moderateamounts.
So where's the trade-off?
And we're super interested inthis concept and certainly it's

(07:00):
an area that we hope to do moreresearch in the future.
So check out MedEvidence andhopefully learn more about what
we know, what we don't know andhow we learn about the stuff you
don't know.

Kevin Geddings (07:10):
Yeah, just go to MedEvidencecom.
Medevidencecom informationavailable on all sorts of
different platforms, very easyto access and you can trust it,
unlike just Googling somethingor looking at a video on
Instagram or whatever.
This is data that you can trustand, of course, Dr.
Korn and the team stand behindall that information that's out
there.
If you'd like to learn moreabout how you can participate in

(07:31):
clinical research trials righthere in St.
Augustine and St.
Johns County, call them herelocally at 904-730-0166.
That number again 904-730-0166.
Dr.
Michael Koren.
Any closing thoughts before welet you go?

Dr. Michael Koren (07:50):
It's getting hot out there, Kevin, wear your
sunscreen.

Kevin Geddings (07:53):
There you go.
Thank you, Dr.
Koren, take care.

Announcer (07:55):
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