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©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Dec 10, 2015; 6(6): 184-188
Published online Dec 10, 2015. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v6.i6.184
Published online Dec 10, 2015. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v6.i6.184
Current dichotomy between traditional molecular biological and omic research in cancer biology and pharmacology
William C Reinhold, Developmental Therapeutics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States
Author contributions: Reinhold WC recognized the issue and wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author has no conflict of interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: William C Reinhold, BSc, Developmental Therapeutics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Building 37, room 5041, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States. wcr@mail.nih.gov
Telephone: +1-301-4969571 Fax: +1-301-4020752
Received: May 30, 2015
Peer-review started: May 30, 2015
First decision: August 14, 2015
Revised: September 2, 2015
Accepted: November 3, 2015
Article in press: November 4, 2015
Published online: December 10, 2015
Peer-review started: May 30, 2015
First decision: August 14, 2015
Revised: September 2, 2015
Accepted: November 3, 2015
Article in press: November 4, 2015
Published online: December 10, 2015
Core Tip
Core tip: This editorial describes the current split in approach, required expertise, and interpretation between the traditional molecular biological field, and the more recent “omic” approaches to cancer biology and pharmacology. The advantages and limitations of each of these disciplines are discussed and contrasted, highlighting their opposing approaches and mentalities. The necessity of their efficient integration for the purpose of interpreting both cell line and clinical sample data is argued, especially when trying to project translationally into the clinic.