Gene expression microarrays in cancer research

Abstract

The advent of microarray technology has enabled scientists to simultaneously investigate the expression of thousands of genes. This technology has been widely used in cancer research to better characterize cancer behaviors at mRNA level and to obtain new insights into various stages of carcinogenesis. A microarray-based experiment generally involves three major components: microarray manufacturing, sample processing, and data analysis, with the goals of identifying differential genes, expression signatures, modules, or networks associated with given pathological changes (Fig. 1). In this chapter, we will introduce the outline of DNA microarray technology and some basic issues related to gene expression microarray-based experiments. The state of the art of cancer gene expression studies regarding tumor development, molecular classification, outcome, and therapeutic response prediction will be addressed. We will also consider the current challenges in data analysis and interpretation of genomics studies. Moreover, we will discuss the emerging concept of cancer systems biology and novel signature-based drug discovery strategies, which are very important for the development of individualized cancer medicine. © 2009 Springer-Verlag New York.