Table 1. Advantages and disadvantages of qRT-PCR, flow cytometry, and IHC.
| Methods | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| qRT-PCR, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction; IHC, immunohistochemistry; IC, immune checkpoint; BCL, B-cell lymphoma; TCL, T-cell lymphoma. | ||
| qRT-PCR | 1. Fast 2. Convenient 3. Cost-effective |
Cannot identify the T cell subpopulation |
| Transcriptome sequencing | 1. Comprehensively observe the internal co-expression of all IC genes 2. Co-expression IC genes with other genes |
1. Longer time to results 2. Requires qRT-PCR validation 3. Cannot identify the T cell subpopulation |
| Flow cytometry | 1. Detect the co-expression of IC proteins on T cell subpopulations |
1. High cost 2. Fresh sample requirement |
| IHC | Detect the co-expression of IC proteins on T cell subpopulations | Mainly applicable to BCL and TCL |