摘要 |
The present invention provides a new method for detecting the presence of gynecological carcinomas in a patient. The method, which comprises detecting the presence of lysophosphatidic acid in a plasma sample of the patient, is useful for detecting ovarian carcinoma, cervical carcinoma, endometrial carcinoma, and peritoneal carcinoma. In a preferred embodiment the method comprises: providing a blood specimen from the patient, obtaining a plasma sample from the blood specimen under conditions which minimize the release of lysophosphatidic acid from the platelets in the blood specimen into the plasma, extracting lipids from the plasma, and detecting the presence of lysophosphatidic acid in the lipid extract. A new method for extracting lysophosphatidic acid from a biological fluid is also provided. The method which comprises acidifying the biological fluid and extracting the lysophosphatidic acid from the acidified sample with an organic solvent is useful for extracting greater than 80 % of the lysophosphatidic acid in the biological fluid. |