Table 2.

Hypothetical spectral count scenarios that reflect the detectability of mutated peptides and proteins in a subpopulation of cancer cells that carry the mutation.

	Small cell number/Low abundance protein	Large cell number/Low abundance protein	Small cell number/High abundance protein	Large cell number/High abundance protein
Spectral counts of the mutated peptides	Zero-to-low	Low	Low	High
Spectral counts of the non-mutated counter-peptides	Low	Zero-to-low	High	Low
Spectral counts of the mutated protein	Low	Low	High	High

Two scenarios, low and high, of the number of cancer cells carrying a specific mutation in a larger population of cancer cells, and of the abundance of the protein carrying the mutation, are considered.