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US 6,664,046 B1Granted
Quantitation of hTERT mRNA expression
AssigneeRoche Molecular Systems, Inc.
InventorsSheng-Yung Pai Chang, Christopher David Santini
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and reagents for quantitating the expression of mRNA which encodes an active hTERT protein, which is useful for the diagnosis and the prognosis of cancer.
Claims11
A method for identifying the presence of cancerous cells in a human sample wherein said method comprises:
- (a) determining the quantity of hTERT mRNA comprising β-region coding sequence in said sample and in a control sample of non cancerous cells by:
- (1) contacting RNA from said sample and said control sample with a pair of primers, wherein said pair of primers consists of a first primer which hybridizes within exon 8 of the hTERT gene and a second primer which hybridizes upstream of exon 7 or downstream of exon 8 of the hTERT gene;
- (3) measuring the generation of amplification products;
- (4) determining the quantity of hTERT mRNA comprising β-region coding sequence in said sample from the results obtained in step (3);
- and
- (b) identifying the presence of cancerous cells in said sample if the quantity of hTERT mRNA comprising β-region coding sequence in said sample is greater than the quantity of hTERT mRNA comprising β-region coding sequence in said control sample.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.