Quantitative Proteomics For Biomarker Discovery and Validation: Prostate Cancer Case Study

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Technology Networks

The identification and development of biomarkers of disease is an arena of intense activity and the application of a wide range of proteomics methods is leading to the discovery of large numbers of potential new protein biomarkers. These markers promise more informed diagnosis of disease, monitoring of disease progression and response to therapeutic intervention and. have the potential to inform clinical decision making for the most effective use of existing drugs and treatments and selection of most appropriate therapeutic regimes. In this presentation, some of the key features of a ‘pipeline’ for robust label-free LC-MS protein biomarker discovery will be described with particular reference to ongoing studies of prostate cancer in a multi-centre consortium. Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer diagnosis and the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in men. At present, serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is the only molecular biomarker widely used in the diagnosis and management of patients with PCa but it cannot distinguish indolent from aggressive disease nor different Gleason grades of disease. There is an important need for clinically relevant biomarkers which will improve the diagnosis and the management of PCa patients. The integration of this protein biomarker discovery pipeline with subsequent validation by multiplexed protein measurements in a quantitative, sensitive and robust manner using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) will be described. The benefits and some potential limitations of these strategies will be presented.