Non-invasive approach for assessing tumors in living animals
OwnerBert Vogelstein, Kenneth W. Kinzler +1inventors
InventorsBert Vogelstein, Kenneth W. Kinzler, Le-Ming Shih
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A means for following the growth of experimental neoplasms involves administering recombinant tumor cells containing an expression construct encoding a secretable marker to an experimental animal and measuring secreted marker in the urine of animals bearing tumors formed by such recombinant tumor cells. Urinary marker levels are quantitatively related to tumor loads. Urinary marker can be detected before tumors are grossly visible or clinically apparent. Marker levels decrease following surgical excision or chemotherapeutic treatment, with an estimated half-life of 11 hours. This approach is applicable to the study of many experimental tumor systems.
Claims33
A method for monitoring growth of tumor cells within an animal body, comprising:
- administering a recombinant tumor cell to an animal, wherein the recombinant tumor cell comprises an expression construct encoding a secretable exogenous marker protein;
- collecting urine from the animal;
- measuring the secretable exogenous marker protein in the urine, wherein the secretable exogenous marker protein in the urine is proportional to the number of viable tumor cells in the animal.
A device for collecting urine from a small mammal, comprising:
- a floor comprising a plurality of liquid-impermeable wells for deposition of urine by a small mammal;
- one or more walls enclosing at least a portion of the plurality of wells, wherein the walls are of sufficient height to inhibit or prevent escape of the small mammal, wherein the floor comprises sufficient wells within the walls so that at least 50% of the wells which are occupied by urine are not also occupied by feces after a period of time sufficient for 90% of a population of healthy said small mammals to have urinated.
A device for collecting urine from a small mammal, comprising:
- a floor comprising a plurality of liquid-impermeable wells for deposition of urine by a small mammal;
- one or more walls enclosing at least a portion of the plurality of wells, wherein the walls are of sufficient height to inhibit or prevent escape of the small mammal;
- and
- a small mammal on the floor and within the walls.
A method for collecting urine from a small mammal comprising the steps of:
- placing a small mammal in a device comprising a floor and one or more walls, wherein the floor comprises a plurality of liquid-impermeable wells for deposition of urine by a small mammal and one or more walls enclosing at least a portion of the plurality of wells, wherein the walls are of sufficient height to inhibit or prevent escape of the small mammal;
- and
- withdrawing urine from the device for biochemical testing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.