Patent ID: 7252976

Claim:
A method for diagnosing colorectal cancer in a human subject having colorectal cancer or at risk of developing colorectal cancer comprising: (a) obtaining a peripheral blood sample of said subject; (b) obtaining RNA transcripts from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of said sample; (c) performing quantitative polymerase chain reaction on said RNA using primers that amplify an AC133 nucleic acid segment; and (d) comparing the amount of AC133 amplification product with the amount of amplification product in a non-cancer, control sample of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, wherein an increase in the amount of AC133 amplification product in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of said subject, as compared to the amount of AC133 amplification product in the non-cancer, control sample of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, indicates that said subject has colorectal cancer.