Detection of steroid receptors on circulating carcinoma cells and treatment
AssigneeWellstat Biologics Corporation
InventorsMing Lu, Robert M. Lorence
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Abstract
The expression of a steroid receptor from circulating carcinoma cells in a blood sample is detected by isolating the carcinoma cells from the blood sample, making an extract from the isolated carcinoma cells and then performing on the extract a sensitive immunoassay capable of detecting the carcinoma cell-associated steroid receptor. A positive result indicates the presence of the steroid receptor in the carcinoma cells. This method can be used to identify cancer patients who are likely to benefit from treatment with an endocrine therapeutic agent.
Claims17
A method of detecting the expression of a steroid receptor from circulating carcinoma cells in a blood sample comprising isolating the carcinoma cells from the blood sample followed by making an extract from the isolated carcinoma cells followed by performing on the extract an immunoassay capable of detecting said steroid receptor, in which a positive immunoassay result indicates the presence of the steroid receptor in the carcinoma cells;
- wherein the carcinoma cells are breast cancer cells and the steroid receptor is selected from the group consisting of estrogen receptor-alpha, estrogen receptor-beta, progesterone receptor, and androgen receptor, or the carcinoma cells are prostate cancer cells and the steroid receptor is androgen receptor;
- wherein the immunoassay has a sensitivity defined by being capable of detecting the steroid receptor from nine hundred MCF-7 carcinoma cells which are spiked into a milliliter of a blood sample from a person without carcinoma, or by being capable of detecting 4 pg of the steroid receptor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.