Patent ID: 8697358
Filing Date: 2014-04-15
Classification: C12Q

Abstract:
1. A noninvasive method for diagnosing prostate cancer and/or assessing the risk of a subject acquiring prostate cancer comprising the analysis of the expression of hepsin in an urine sample, wherein the analysis comprises the following steps: (i) determining the expression level of hepsin in said urine sample; (ii) determining the expression level of at least one reference gene in said urine sample; (iii) normalizing the expression level of hepsin to the expression level of the at least one reference gene, and (iv) attributing the normalized expression level of hepsin to the diagnosis of prostate cancer in said subject and/or an increased risk of said subject acquiring prostate cancer, wherein at least one reference gene is TATA-Box binding protein (TBP), wherein optionally in addition to the expression of hepsin the expression of the marker genes PCA3, EZH2 and prostein are analyzed, wherein the expression levels of hepsin, said marker gene(s) and of said at least one reference gene are determined via the quantification of the respective transcripts, and wherein the expression levels of hepsin and said marker genes are normalized by the use of TBP as said at least one reference gene, and wherein a normalized expression level of more than 0.0168 for hepsin and/or a normalized expression level of less than 0.21 for prostein and/or a normalized expression level of less than 1.87 for EZH2 and/or a normalized expression level of more than 2.15 for PCA3 is attributed to an increased likelihood for the presence of prostate cancer in said patient and/or an increased risk of said subject for acquiring prostate cancer.