Prognostic biomarkers for prediction of recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma: Current status and future prospects

Table 4 Advantages and limitations of the three different omics methodologies

Method	Advantages	Limitations
Transcriptomics	Large dataset of dysregulated genes identified, provides insights to biological mechanisms of diseaseAffordable priceHas provided successful example of translation to clinical use (e.g., Oncotype Dx™ in predicting breast cancer recurrence)	Differences in platform contribute to lack of overlap in signatures between different studiesHigh possibility of noise present in the gene listPoor correlation between transcript and protein levels
Proteomics	Direct measurement of biological effectorsValidation method (IHC and TMA) routinely performed in pathology labs	Small number of validated targetsPrice, availability and quality of antibodies for validation work
Metabolomics	Amenable to different types of samples which can be obtained in a non-invasive manner	Lack of large-scale validation of metabolite signaturesLimited biological information obtained

IHC: Immunohistochemistry; TMA: Tissue Microarray.