Frontiers in Endocrinology (Jul 2019)

Proteomics for the Identification of Biomarkers in Testicular Cancer–Review

  • Domenico Milardi,
  • Domenico Milardi,
  • Giuseppe Grande,
  • Giuseppe Grande,
  • Federica Vincenzoni,
  • Federica Vincenzoni,
  • Francesco Pierconti,
  • Alfredo Pontecorvi,
  • Alfredo Pontecorvi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2019.00462
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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A large number of biomarkers have been proposed for the diagnosis of testicular cancer, representing putative molecular targets for anticancer treatments. However, no conclusive data have been provided. Proteomics represents a research field recently developed. It evaluates the large-scale analysis of the full protein components of a single cell, of a specific tissue, or of biological fluids. In the last decades, proteomics has been applied in clinical fields, thanks to modern technology and new bioinformatic tools, to identify novel molecular markers of diseases. The aim of this review is to argue the findings of recent studies in the discoveries of putative prognostic and diagnostic markers of testis cancer by proteomic techniques. We present here a panel of proteins identified by proteomics which might be used after validation for early detection and the prognostic evaluation of testicular tumors. In addition, the molecular mechanisms revealed by these proteomic studies might also guide the development of novel treatments in future.

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