The association between the acute-phase reactant proteins (APRPs) and cancer has long been established. There have been numerous reports correlating altered levels of various APRPs with different types of cancers. However, researchers are often quick to dismiss the use of these APRPs as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring of cancer because alterations in APRP concentrations are observed in a wide range of diseases. Recent progress in proteomics studies which profiled the serum proteins of cancer patients and those of normal individuals indicated that the altered APRP expressions were different for distinct types, subtypes, and even stages of cancer. Interestingly, these data are in agreement with those observed earlier using immunochemical and biochemical assays. In view of this compelling association of different patterns of APRPs with various types of cancers and in an apparent shift of paradigm, we present in this review some indications that APRP fingerprinting may be used as complementary cancer biomarkers.

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Diagnosis of bone tumor currently relies on imaging and biopsy, and hence, the need to find less invasive ways for its accurate detection. More recently, numerous promising deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and protein biomarkers with significant prognostic, diagnostic and/or predictive abilities for various types of bone tumors have been identified from genomics and proteomics studies. This article reviewed the putative biomarkers for the more common types of bone tumors (that is, osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, chondrosarcoma [malignant] and giant cell tumor [benign]) that were unveiled from the studies. The benefits and drawbacks of these biomarkers, as well as the technology platforms involved in the research, were also discussed. Challenges faced in the biomarker discovery studies and the problems in their translation from the bench to the clinical settings were also addressed.

Milk serves as the sole nutrition for newborns, as well as a medium for the transfer of immunological components from the mother to the baby. This study reveals different glycoprotein profiles obtained from human, bovine, and caprine milk and their potential roles in supporting infant growth. Proteins from these three milk samples are separated and analyzed using two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis (2‐DE). Glycosylated proteins from all samples are enriched by affinity chromatography using lectins from the seeds of Artocarpus integer before analysis using LC/MS‐QTOF. The glycoproteome profiling demonstrates that glycosylated proteins are higher in caprine milk compared to other samples. Analysis using LC/MS‐QTOF identified 42 O‐glycosylated and 56 N‐glycosylated proteins, respectively. Among those identified, human milk has 17 glycoproteins, which are both O‐ and N‐glycosylated, whereas caprine and bovine have 10 and 1, respectively. Only glycoproteins from human milk have shown positive matching to important human biological pathways, such as vesicle‐mediated transport, immune system and hemostasis pathways. Human milk remains unique for human babies with the presence of antibodies in the form of immunoglobulins that are lacking in ruminant milk proteomes.