Table 4.

General guideline for gene expression assay for cancer clinical use

Assay	qRT-PCR	DNA microarray	nCounter	RNAseq	TMA&FISH
gene#
1-50	++				+
50-500			++
500-2000		++
>2000				++
purposes
proteins					++
mRNAs	+	+	+	+	+
novel discovery				++
facility
clinic lab	++
hospital lab	++
Institution core		+	+	++
national lab			+	++	++
use frequency
daily	++
weekly		+	+
monthly			++	++	+