Genomic technologies are rapidly evolving and have demonstrated utility in augmenting oncological pathology or clinical presentation in disease classification and risk of relapse assessment. Numerous malignancies have been subject to microarray examination, and through a variety of analysis methodologies, groups of reporter genes have been identified to generate 'molecular portraits' of these diseases. Once validated, it is likely that assessment of the expression levels of subsets of reporter genes will contribute to personalized genomic medicine through diagnosis and selection of treatment options for patients. The dynamic nature of this field ensures that new developments are missing from this review.