Technologies for characterizing tumours

Molecular alterations in tumours can be uncovered by using
technologies that assess changes in the content or sequence of DNA,
its transcription into messenger RNA or microRNA, the production
of proteins or the synthesis of various metabolic products. Below is
a partial list of the various types of information that can be obtained
about tumours and some of the technologies that are used to make
those assessments.
DNA copy-number assessment
• Comparative genome hybridization to DNA microarrays
Mutation screening
• DNA sequencing
• Mass-spectrometry-based genotyping
• Mutation-specific PCR
Gene-expression profiling
• DNA microarrays
• Multiplex PCR
MicroRNA-expression profiling
• DNA microarrays
• Multiplex PCR
Proteomic profiling
• Mass spectrometry
Phosphoproteomic profiling
• Mass spectrometry after immunoprecipitation with phosphotyrosinespecific
antibodies
Metabolomic profiling
• Mass spectrometry

nature.com