Identification of new therapeutic targets of bone cancers by proteomic strategies

Bone-resident primary cancers and bone metastatic cancers are major causes of patient morbidity, mortality, and reduced quality of life. The presence of cancer cells within bone causes significant alterations in normal bone homeostasis and results in an increased rate of fractures and other skeletal-related events (SREs). Alterations in cell signaling within both the tumor cells themselves and the surrounding bone microenvironment are potential drug targets for treatment of this important disease development. As proteins are the key functional molecules within cells, proteomics has considerable potential to identify the mechanistic drivers which alter during the process of cancer development within bone, and cancer metastasis to bone. This chapter reviews the application of proteomics to primary bone cancers and bone metastatic cancers, identifying potential novel drug targets as well as proteins which can inform patient treatment decisions as potential prognostic and/or diagnostic biomarkers. Future applications of proteomic methods to bone cancers are also described.