Patent ID: 9664682
Date: 2017-05-30
CPC Classifications: A61B,G01N

Claim:
1. A method of treating a growth in a subject comprising: (a) providing a sample of a growth obtained from thyroid tissue of a subject, (b) analyzing the sample by an immunoassay to determine the concentration of pleiotrophin protein in the sample, (c) analyzing the sample by an immunoassay to determine the concentration of thyroglobulin protein in the sample, (d) determining the ratio of pleiotrophin protein concentration to thyroglobulin protein concentration (PTN/Tg) in the sample, (e) comparing the ratio of pleiotrophin protein concentration to thyroglobulin protein concentration determined from the sample with a control, (f) providing a diagnosis of the growth as a malignant growth after determining an increased ratio of pleiotrophin protein concentration to thyroglobulin protein concentration determined from the sample as compared to the control and (g) performing a thyroidectomy on the subject, wherein the control is the ratio of pleiotrophin protein concentration to thyroglobulin protein concentration in a benign growth.