Figure 8.

Main cancer challenges tackled by targeted glycoproteomics and glycan-based opportunities facing clinical translation. Glycans, particularly the STn and SLeA antigens, have been explored in the context of non-invasive cancer diagnosis, patient stratification, response to chemotherapy, disease monitoring, understanding and addressing immune response to cancer cells and design of safer targeted therapeutics. These approaches have been challenged by the lack of tumor specificity of these glycans; nevertheless, these glycobiomarkers specificity is being refined based on the integration of multiomics approaches. Fulfilling this objective will pave the way for improvements in liquid biopsies, targeted therapeutics, non-invasive cancer detection tools, patient stratification and prognostication models, novel targeted therapeutics, new immune check-point inhibitors, cancer glyconeoantigens and ultimately an improved understanding on the role of glycans in health and disease.