METHOD OF DIAGNOSING CANCER, PRECANCEROUS STATE, OR SUSCEPTIBILITY TO OTHER FORMS OF DISEASES BY ANALYSIS OF IRF-1-SPECIFIC RNA IN BIOPSY SAMPLES

摘要

The present invention relates to a method of diagnosing cancer, precancerous state, and susceptibility to other forms of diseases, by use of a molecular marker, interferon-regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1). The method is characterized in that IRF-1-specific RNA is analysed in a sample obtained from blood or other biopsy material, preferably by reverse transcrip-tion/polymerase chain reaction. The invention is based on the unexpected finding that a novel mechanism of inactiva-tion of the tumor suppressor gene IRF-1 plays a crucial role e.g. in hematopoietic malignancies. An unusual exon skipping leads to RNA molecules which lack exon 2 or exons 2 and 3. The relative amounts of full-length RNA and shortened RNA molecules are significantly different in samples obtained from tumor patients as compared to healthy donors.