Studies that link genes and other biological markers to medical conditions such as heart disease or colon cancer may exaggerate the ties, casting doubt on some decisions doctors make for their patients, researchers said.An analysis of 35 of the most widely cited medical papers on biomarker discovery showed that most of the findings didn’t hold up in larger studies, according to a review in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association. Findings not supported in larger analyses included those linking the BRCA1 breast tumor gene to colon cancer, and a measure of inflammation called c-reactive protein to heart disease.
