The application of mass-spectrometry-based protein biomarker discovery to theragnostics

center dot The techniques used in protein biomarker discovery have been described in specialist journals. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS center dot This review aims to provide a useful toolkit for the researcher (especially the less experienced) that suggests answers to common questions and demystifies some of the technology. Over the last decade rapid developments in mass spectrometry have allowed the identification of multiple proteins in complex biological samples. This proteomic approach has been applied to biomarker discovery in the context of clinical pharmacology (the combination of biomarker and drug now being termed 'theragnostics'). In this review we provide a roadmap for early protein biomarker discovery studies, focusing on some key questions that regularly confront researchers.