ENDOGENOUS RETROVIRUS UP-REGULATED IN PROSTATE CANCER

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for diagnosing prostate cancer, comprising a step of detecting the presence or absence of an expression product of a HML-2 endogenous retrovirus in a patient sample.SOLUTION: Human endogenous retroviruses of the HML-2 family show up-regulated expression in prostate tumors. This finding can be used in prostate cancer screening, diagnosis and therapy. There is provided a method for diagnosing cancer, especially prostate cancer, the method comprising the step of detecting the presence or absence of an expression product of a HML-2 endogenous retrovirus in a patient sample. Higher levels of expression product relative to normal tissue indicate that the patient from whom the sample has been taken has cancer.