Method for the diagnosis and analysis of carcinomas of the breast

摘要

The invention relates to a method for the diagnosis outside the human body and/or analysis of carcinomas of the breast. The method is based on the detection and/or quantification of the expression of variant CD44 molecules, especially those CD44 variants which express the exon v6. The method can expediently be carried out using antibodies on samples, for example tissue sections from biopsy material, in particular with antibodies against an epitope encoded by exon v6. The method has prognostic value. Thus, high-level expression of the exon v6 correlates with a low total survival time, especially in combination with a high grading (low differentiation) of the tumour.