The tumor matrisome, the collection of structural and functional
extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins found in tumors together with
ECM-associated proteins, growth factors, cytokines and chemokines is an
extremely dynamic entity whose composition and regulation depends on
both local, cell-specific processes and overarching pan-cancer
microenvironmental landscapes. A deeper knowledge and understanding of
the tumor matrisome would grant us novel diagnostic, prognostic and
therapeutic possibilities but to reach that point there is a pressing
need to combine fine-grained molecular studies with system biology
approaches to build a complete map of what actually happens in the tumor
microenvironment. In this chapter, we will review the most salient
findings on the tumor matrisome at the transcriptomics, regulomics and
proteomics level and show how the use of big data enables the
identification of biological features and characteristics that cross
different tumors and the discovery of novel molecular mechanisms
connecting the different omics level. Also, we will provide a simple
walkthrough to jumpstart matrisome data analysis for complete beginners
in a bid to ignite more research in this fascinating field.