Antibody arrays in cancer research

Antibody arrays have valuable applications in cancer research. Many different antibody array technologies have been developed, each with particular advantages, disadvantages, and optimal applications. The methods have been demonstrated on various sample types, such as serum, plasma, and other bodily fluids; cell culture supernatants; tissue culture lysates; and resected tumor specimens. The applications to cancer research have included profiling proteins to identify candidate biomarkers, characterizing signaling pathways, and the measurement of changes in modification or expression level of cancer-related proteins. Further innovations in the methods and experimental strategies are broadening the scope of the applications and the type of information that can be gathered. These alternate formats and uses of antibody arrays include arrays to measure whole cells, arrays to measure enzyme activities, reverse phase arrays, and bead-based arrays. This article reviews the various types of antibody array methods and their applications to cancer research.