SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR EMPLOYING PODOCALYXIN AND TRA HUMAN STEM CELL MARKERS AS PROGNOSTIC MARKERS FOR AGGRESSIVE AND METASTATIC CANCER

摘要

The invention relates to systems and methods to detect podocalyxin-expressing and TRA-expressing cancer stem cells or cancer cells with stem cell-like properties in a tissue cell sample obtained from a localized tumor of a patient, and to determine a diagnosis or prognosis of aggressive and metastatic cancer by employing podocalyxin and TRA human stem cell markers as prognostic markers.

主权项

1. A system to determine a diagnosis or prognosis of aggressive cancer cells in a patient having a localized tumor, comprising:
a biopsy means to obtain a tissue cell sample from the localized tumor; a detecting means to determine the presence of podocalyxin and/or TRA expressed on cancer stem cells in the tissue cell sample; an indicator means to display the presence or absence of TRA-expressing cancer stem cells in the tissue cell sample; a medical diagnosis or prognosis of aggressive or metastatic cancer cells in the patient based on the presence of podocalyxin-expressing and/or TRA-expressing cancer stem cells in the tissue cell sample; and a medical diagnosis or prognosis of non-aggressive and localized cancer cells in the patient based on the absence of podocalyxin-expressing and/or TRA-expressing cancer stem cells in the tissue cell sample.