ALDH1 As A Cancer Stem Cell Marker
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of Michigan
InventorsMax S. Wicha, Gabriela Dontu, Christophe Ginestier, Emmanuelle Charafe-Jauffret, Suling Liu
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Abstract
The present invention relates to compositions and methods for treating, characterizing, and diagnosing cancer. In particular, the present invention provides a novel stem cell cancer marker, ALDH1, useful for the diagnosis, characterization, and treatment of solid tumor stem cells.
Claims20
A method of detecting solid tumor stem cells comprising;
- a) contacting a tissue sample with an antibody or antibody fragment configured to detect ALDH1 expression in cells in said tissue sample;
- and
- b) determining if said tissue sample contains solid tumor stem cells based on the presence or absence of ALDH1 expression in said tissue sample.
A method for identifying a cancer patient with a poor prognosis, comprising:
- a) obtaining a biological sample from said cancer patient comprising cancer cells;
- b) treating said biological sample to determine if a portion of said cancer cells are ALDH1 expressing solid tumor stem cells, and
- c) identifying said cancer patient as having a poor prognosis, wherein said identifying comprises demonstrating the presence of said ALDH1 expressing solid tumor stem cells in said biological sample.
A method for killing or inhibiting the proliferation of solid tumor stem cells comprising contacting said solid tumor stem cells with a biologically effective amount of a composition comprising at least one agent targeted to ALDH1.
An isolated solid tumor stem cell, wherein:
- (a) the solid tumor stem cell is derived from a solid tumor;
- (b) the solid tumor stem cell expresses ALDH1;
- and (c) the solid tumor stem cell is tumorogenic.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.