Tissue is Back: Rediscovering a Biomarker Resource That Never Left
As the Elevation team spent the first half of this year moving through conference floors, sessions, and posters, an undercurrent emerged – tissue is back in the biomarker conversation. Over the last decade, the emergence and expansion of next generation sequencing has dominated the conversation as comprehensive genomic profiling changed what we can detect and personalize in the diagnostic process. But this didn't change what tissue has always shown us: spatial context, morphology, protein-level expression, the tumor microenvironment organized in its native state.
Pairing genomic data with tissue-based information builds a more holistic picture. Digital pathology and AI-driven image analysis are also making traditional staining more quantitative and reproducible, as well as unlocking new pathological interpretations that can be pulled out of tissue patterns. This means the oldest resources in the diagnostic process are getting more powerful. As precision medicine reaches more clinical settings globally, finding new ways to utilize cost-effective and widely available resources could carry real weight in providing patients with access to improved patient care.
As we reflect on what the introduction of diagnostic innovation has taught us over the last few decades, biomarker science doesn't look like finding a silver bullet; it looks more like integration. Each modality doing what it does best, in service of a fuller, more personalized diagnostic picture for patients.
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