Cutoff Finder: A Comprehensive and Straightforward Web Application Enabling Rapid Biomarker Cutoff Optimization

Gene or protein expression data are usually represented by metric or at least ordinal variables. In order to translate a continuous variable into a clinical decision, it is necessary to determine a cutoff point and to stratify patients into two groups each requiring a different kind of treatment. Currently, there is no standard method or standard software for biomarker cutoff determination. Therefore, we developed Cutoff Finder, a bundle of optimization and visualization methods for cutoff determination that is accessible online. While one of the methods for cutoff optimization is based solely on the distribution of the marker under investigation, other methods optimize the correlation of the dichotomization with respect to an outcome or survival variable. We illustrate the functionality of Cutoff Finder by the analysis of the gene expression of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR) in breast cancer tissues. This distribution of these important markers is analyzed and correlated with immunohistologically determined ER status and distant metastasis free survival. Cutoff Finder is expected to fill a relevant gap in the available biometric software repertoire and will enable faster optimization of new diagnostic biomarkers. The tool can be accessed at http://molpath.charite.de/cutoff.

• Publication year

  2012

• Venue

  PLoS ONE

• Publication date

  2012-12-14

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Computer Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0051862PMID 23251644PMCID 3522617
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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