Methods for the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer

摘要

The present invention discloses the protease hepsin is specifically over-expressed in ovarian and other malignancies. A number of hepsin peptides can induce immune responses to hepsin, thereby demonstrating the potential of these peptides in monitoring and the development of immunotherapies for ovarian and other malignancies. There is also provided a hepsin protein variant that is useful as a marker for ovarian cancer cells, prostate cancer cells or kidney cancer cells.