Antibody assay

A method of diagnosing and treating liver cancer in a mammalian subject by detecting an antibody in a test sample comprising a bodily fluid from the mammalian subject, wherein the antibody is an autoantibody immunologically specific for a tumour marker protein selected from the group consisting of MMP9, AIF1, EpCAM and CDKN1B, which method comprises the steps of:

• (a) contacting the test sample with a tumour marker antigen selected from the group consisting of MMP9, AIF1, EpCAM and CDKN1B;
• (b) determining the presence or absence of complexes of the tumour marker antigen bound to autoantibodies present in the test sample;
• (c) diagnosing the subject with liver cancer when complexes of the tumour marker antigen bound to autoantibodies present in the test sample are detected;
• and
• (d) administering a liver cancer treatment to the diagnosed subject.

A method of predicting response to an anti-liver cancer treatment, the method comprising detecting an antibody in a test sample comprising a bodily fluid from a mammalian subject, wherein the antibody is an autoantibody immunologically specific for a tumour marker protein selected from the group consisting of MMP9, AIF1, EpCAM and CDKN1B, which method comprises the steps of:

• (a) contacting the test sample with a tumour marker antigen selected from the group consisting of MMP9, AIF1, EpCAM and CDKN1B;
• (b) determining the presence or absence of complexes of the tumour marker antigen bound to autoantibodies present in the test sample;
• (c) detecting the amount of specific binding between the tumour marker antigen and autoantibodies present in the test sample;
• and
• (d) comparing the amount of specific binding between the tumour marker antigen and the autoantibody with a previously established relationship between the amount of binding and the likely outcome of treatment;
• whereby a change in the amount of specific binding, when compared to controls, predicts that the patient will or will not respond to the anti-liver cancer treatment.

Use of a tumour marker antigen selected from the group consisting of MMP9 AIF1, EpCAM and CDKN1 B in a method of detecting liver cancer in a mammalian subject by detecting an autoantibody immunologically specific for MMP9, AIF1, EpCAM or CDKN1 B in a test sample comprising a bodily fluid from the mammalian subject, which method comprises the steps of:

• (a) contacting the test sample with a tumour marker antigen selected from the group consisting of MMP9, AIF1, EpCAM and CDKN1 B;
• and
• (b) determining the presence or absence of complexes of the tumour marker antigen bound to autoantibodies present in the test sample;
• whereby the presence of said complexes is indicative of the presence of liver cancer.