{"entity":{"id":"quantile-normalisation","kind":"term","name":"Quantile normalisation, rank transforms and z-scores","aka":["quantile normalisation","quantile normalization","QN","rank normalisation","rank transform","per-gene z-score","z-score normalisation","z-scoring","standard score"],"tldr":"Quantile normalisation forces every sample's expression values onto the same distribution by rank, and a z-score expresses each gene as standard deviations from its mean; both are ways to make data from different platforms comparable.","summary":"Quantile normalisation makes two distributions identical in statistical properties by sorting both and replacing each value with the reference value of the same rank (Wikipedia); it can be applied to a single new sample against a fixed reference, which makes it usable at prediction time. A standard score is the number of standard deviations a value lies from the mean (Wikipedia), applied per gene it aligns RNA-seq and microarray means but needs a cohort to estimate. Both are the correctness backbone that lets a TCGA model read a METABRIC sample.","asOf":"2026-09-24","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantile_normalization","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia: standard score","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_score"},{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantile_normalization"}],"tags":["cansim-terms"],"related":["cancer-ai-vocabulary"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["batch-effects","tpm-fpkm-counts","microarray-expression","domain-adaptation"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["Listed in the CanSim terms map 1.0.0 (docs/onco/terms.json, generated 2026-09-24), CC BY 4.0, attribution: CanSim project, an open, public-data-first cancer foundation-model programme; CanSim page path /terms/quantile-normalisation."],"provenance":{"editedBy":"OnCo CanSim terms wave (Wikipedia summaries, standards and project pages, GDC and FDA pages, Europe PMC)","editedOn":"2026-09-24","note":"CanSim terms map 1.0.0 (docs/onco/terms.json, generated 2026-09-24), CC BY 4.0, attribution: CanSim project, an open, public-data-first cancer foundation-model programme"},"category":"Methods and models"},"route":"/terms/quantile-normalisation/","neighbours":{"term":[{"id":"batch-effects","kind":"term","name":"Batch effects and harmonisation","route":"/terms/batch-effects/"},{"id":"cancer-ai-vocabulary","kind":"term","name":"Cancer AI vocabulary (CanSim terms map)","route":"/terms/cancer-ai-vocabulary/"},{"id":"domain-adaptation","kind":"term","name":"Domain shift and domain adaptation (cell line to patient)","route":"/terms/domain-adaptation/"},{"id":"microarray-expression","kind":"term","name":"Microarray expression data","route":"/terms/microarray-expression/"},{"id":"tpm-fpkm-counts","kind":"term","name":"TPM, FPKM and raw counts (expression units)","route":"/terms/tpm-fpkm-counts/"}]}}