Rapid emergence of multimarker strategies in laboratory medicine.

A single biomarker has an inherent specificity and sensitivity that cannot be improved, but multiple biomarkers can be combined to achieve improved clinical performances. This is the basis of multimarker strategies that integrate different biomarkers into a single score to support medical decisions. The simplest strategy determines ratios of different biomarkers or the number of different markers above their respective thresholds. A more advanced strategy employs similar biomarkers, but uses more sophisticated algorithms. The most advanced strategy employs large numbers of biomarkers that may or may not have been previously characterized and uses sophisticated algorithms.