ABSTRACT
Biological biomarkers are not a novelty in medicine but the number of prescriptions for biomarkers has increased steadily in recent years and now represents a global market of several billion dollars. The goals of this article, initially defined during the 2008 Congress of the French Society of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care when the prize of the best manuscript submitted to the Annales françaises d'anesthésie et de réanimation was awarded, are the following: (i) propose a conceptual framework for use of biomarkers in general; (ii) provide several methodologic details that could help the research and clinical community to better interpret both the results of the literature and their own data; (iii) briefly discuss statistical constraints related to the use of biomarkers; (iv) attempt to analyze the way statistical constraints must modify clinical reasoning related to biomarkers.
