ASSAY FOR DETECTION OF PROSTATE CANCER BY MEANS OF PROTEOLYTIC HSA MARKERS

摘要

The present invention relates to a new assay for prostate cancer and peptide markers useful in said assay. It has been found that the serum of prostate cancer patients with metastasis comprises a different set of proteases and proteolytic enzymes than healthy controls. This results in different degradation products of human serum albumin (HSA), which can function as markers for assaying the presence of prostate cancer. Further, the proteolytic characteristics of the serum can be tested by applying a synthetic peptide to the serum and assaying for its degradation products. Specific proteolytic markers are peptides comprising the HSA fragments HPDYSWLL or HPYFYAPEL.