Towards developing biomarkers for glioblastoma multiforme: a proteomics view

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most aggressive and lethal forms of the primary brain tumors. With predominance of tumor heterogeneity and emergence of new subtypes, new approaches are needed to develop tissue-based markers for tumor typing or circulatory markers to serve as blood-based assays. Multi-omics data integration for GBM tissues would offer new insights on the molecular view of GBM pathogenesis useful to identify biomarker panels. On the other hand, mapping differentially expressed tissue proteins for their secretory potential through bioinformatics analysis or analysis of the tumor cell secretome or tumor exosomes would enhance our understanding of the tumor microenvironment and prospects for targeting circulatory biomarkers. In this review, the authors first present potential biomarker candidates for GBM that have been reported and then focus on plausible pipelines for multi-omic data integration to identify additional, high-confidence molecular panels for clinical applications in GBM.