OMICS for tumor biomarker research

Abstract

OMICS generally refers to a study of some gene expression products, either direct, such as RNA and proteins, or indirect, such as metabolites, and is usually based on genome information. Main sections of OMICS sciences include transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, powerful research instruments capable of high-throughput detection of biomolecules differentially expressed between tumor and non-tumor samples, including excised tissues or biopsies, blood plasma, saliva, and urine. Consequently, thousands of species of RNAs, proteins, and metabolites were suggested as candidate tumor biomarkers alone or as constituents of multiplex signatures. Despite many difficulties encountered by OMICS panels with an intended use in population screening programs, some of the multiplex panels already have found their applications in the field of theranostics. If the patient is already diagnosed with a certain cancer, RNA or protein biomarker signatures may help to select a specific therapy or to predict the probability of a relapse. A number of clinically relevant, validated, and approved signatures of RNA and protein analytes successfully emerged from OMICS pipelines. It is important to remember that an implementation of these clinical tests took the safety of reliable laboratory techniques, such as polymerase chain reaction and immunoassay.