High-throughput genomic technology in research and clinical management of breast cancer. Plasma-based proteomics in early detection and therapy

Table 1 Summary of proteomic approaches used to analyze plasma for breast cancer biomarkers

Approaches		Examples	Pros	Cons
Nondirected/global	Identification based	Tandem MS	Unbiased searches Protein identities are determined Highly reproducible	Requires fractionation and/or depletion/enrichment to overcome limited dynamic range Time intensive
	Pattern based	MALDI-TOF-MS	High throughput Potentially applicable for clinical use Unbiased searches	Protein identities not determined, making validation difficult Identified proteins have been high-abundance immune and clotting factors
				Low reproducibility between laboratories
Target specific		Western/ELISA/antibody arrays	Relatively high throughput Clinically applicable Identity of proteins is known	Limited antibody availability Untargeted proteins will remain undetected

ELISA, enzyme-linked immunoisorbent assay; MALDI, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization; MS, mass spectrometry; TOF, time-of-flight.

ISSN: 1465-542X