Figure 2. Protein Profiling for Cancer Diagnosis and Prognosis.

Generation of protein profiles using mass spectrometry is an example of an experimental technique that produces massive amounts of data that is difficult to interpret without computational and statistical algorithms. For instance, comparison of disease versus control sample profiles can lead to identification of disease-specific protein expression signatures, which could be used as diagnostic or prognostic markers. Aggregation of such data from multiple sources and pooled analysis requires proper annotation of sample source, sample handling, and experiment information.