Transient therapy-related surge in serum tumor biomarkers: characterizing behavior and postulating its biologic role.

A phenomenon of serum tumor biomarker surge or flare that ensues shortly after initiating cancer therapy and that may precede the actual therapeutic response-related decline is poorly understood and remains under-appreciated. However, it may have a significant clinical implication as it could be misinterpreted in clinical practice as therapeutic failure and lead to a premature discontinuation of potentially effective therapy. Therefore, in the present study, attempts have been made to understand the behavior of this phenomenon with respect to a reported median incidence, duration, and its relationship to clinical response.