At a Glance

By the Numbers

The Early Detection Research Network

EDRN discovers and validates biomarkers for the early detection of cancer — through research protocols, scientific data, publications, and curated specimen reference sets, spanning dozens of diseases and the organs they affect.

↗
1,661
Biomarkers
Named indicators of a disease in a specific organ.
 ↗
348
Protocols
Research that develops & validates biomarkers.
 ↗
3,065
Publications
Papers describing the research & securing funding.
 ↗
40
Science Data
Collections from instruments, scans & slides.
 ↗
16
Specimen Reference Sets
Baseline specimen sets for new biomarker work.
+ 3 discovery sets ↗
34
Organs
Human body systems under active study.
 ↗
38
Diseases
Distinct cancers investigated across the network.
 ↗
1
Network
One mission — detect cancer earlier.

How it all connects

Protocols, data, publications, and specimen sets all feed biomarkers, which in turn identify diseases in specific organs. Every node below is clickable.

develop inform yield baseline found in indicate 348 Protocols 40 Science Data 3,065 Publications 16 +3 Specimen Reference Sets 1,661 BIOMARKERS an indication of a disease in an organ 34 Organs 38 Diseases
1
Protocols research and develop new biomarkers using human and other subjects.
2
Scientific data is collected from lab instruments studying specimens — X-rays, MRIs, PET, CT, microscope slides and other scans.
3
Publications, created from that data and the protocols executed, describe the research, secure funding, and propose new biomarkers.
4
Specimen reference sets preserve specimens from this research as the baselines for future biomarker development.
5
Each biomarker describes a specific indication for a disease in an organ — refined and applied across 38 diseases and 34 organs.
Early Detection Research Network — edrn.cancer.gov