Cell Culture-based Biomarker Discovery and Clinical Applications

Abstract

Cancer is a leading cause of death. Although recent advances in proteomics technologies have inspired hope that new blood-based biomarkers for early cancer detection will be discovered, few have been introduced to the clinic. Biomarker discovery using plasma or serum is challenging. Detecting cancer cell–derived proteins is extremely difficult in highly complex biological fluids that include an abundance of proteins produced from the liver. On the other hand, a conditioned medium of cultured cancer cells containing an abundance of proteins secreted or released from the cells and those shed from the cell surface, which is referred to as the “secretome”, is a promising source of biomarker discovery. However, obstacles in secretome analysis include sample preparation, effective selection of biomarker candidates, and assay system development. Herein we introduce findings determined via secretome analysis with an emphasis on methodologies developed for biomarker discovery based on culture cell lines and their advantages and disadvantages.