Patent ID: 7820382

Claim:
A method of screening a human patient for the presence of a particular one of the conditions of breast, lung, pancreatic, and colon growths and cancers, comprising the steps of: obtaining a gene expression pattern for a set of peripheral blood monocyte-lymphocyte genes predetermined to be likely to differ between people known not to be suffering from a particular one of the conditions for which the patient is being screened and people known to be suffering from the particular one of the conditions for which the patient is being screened; obtaining, using RNase free equipment, an undiluted sample of peripheral blood monocyte-lymphocytes from the patient to be screened for the particular one of the conditions for which the patient is being screened, and mixing the undiluted sample with heparin and a ficoll gradient as the sample is taken from the patient; separating the monocyte-lymphocytes from the sample of peripheral blood within two hours of obtaining the peripheral blood from the patient; processing the separated peripheral blood monocyte-lymphocytes to allow determination of gene expression characteristics of genes from the separated peripheral blood monocyte-lymphocytes; determining gene expression characteristics for selected genes from the separated peripheral blood monocyte-lymphocytes, said selected genes including genes the same as genes included in the obtained gene expression pattern for the set of peripheral blood monocyte-lymphocyte genes predetermined to be likely to differ between people known not to be suffering from the particular one of the conditions for which the patient is being screened and people known to be suffering from the particular one of the conditions for which the patient is being screened; and comparing the gene expression characteristics determined for the selected genes separated from the peripheral blood monocyte-lymphocytes from the patient which are the same genes as genes included in the set of peripheral blood monocytes-lymphocyte genes predetermined to be likely to differ between people known not to be suffering from the particular one of the conditions for which the patient is being screened and people known to be suffering from the particular one of the conditions for which the patient is being screened with the gene characteristics for the same genes in the set of genes, statistically significant differences between the expression characteristics between at least one of these same genes indicating a likelihood of the existence in the patient of the particular one of the conditions being screened for.