Researchers at GE Global Research and Eli Lilly have developed a tissue-based biomarker technology to visualize and map complex biomarker networks in cancer, which could provide personalized cancer therapies and enable faster drug development.

The new technology can simultaneously map more than 25 proteins in tumors at the sub-cellular level, according to the companies. With the technology, researchers can see a cancer cell's signaling pathway, and the interplay of signaling networks inside the tumor, the companies said.

The technology has been tested successfully on colon and prostate cancer tissue samples and is believed to be applicable to all types of cancer, according to the firms.

GE and Lilly also plans to extend their research agreement to include four of Lilly's oncology molecules currently in the development pipeline.