Abstract
In this review we describe current concepts and future challenges for integrating biomolecular and clinical data for cancer research. We first highlight the various sources for generating data with specific focus on medium- and large-scale omics approaches as well as relevant public databases. We then give an overview of the computational methods necessary to analyze primary data as well as bioinformatics tools for using databases, extracting pathway information, and reconstructing biomolecular networks. The main focus of this work is on current methodological concepts for data integration as well as integrative data analyses. Using a case study in cancer immunology, we demonstrate the power and the limitations of the used methods. Finally we discuss future challenges and suggest how a combined computational/experimental approaches can lead to new insights into the molecular mechanisms of cancer, and improved diagnosis and prognosis of the disease.
Pornpimol Charoentong and Hubert Hackl contributed equally to this work.
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Abbreviations
- FACS:
-
Fluorescence-activated cell sorter
- GO:
-
Gene ontology
- miRNA:
-
MicroRNA
- MSI:
-
Microsatellite instability
- PH:
-
Proportional hazards
- qPCR:
-
Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction
- SNP:
-
Single nucleotide polymorphism
- TMA:
-
Tissue microarray
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Charoentong, P., Hackl, H., Mlecnik, B., Bindea, G., Galon, J., Trajanoski, Z. (2012). Integrating Biomolecular and Clinical Data for Cancer Research: Concepts and Challenges. In: Trajanoski, Z. (eds) Computational Medicine. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-0947-2_9
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