Patent ID: 8722367

Claim:
A method for monitoring breast conditions in a subject, comprising: extracting cells obtained from a breast of the subject and preparing one or more cell lysates therefrom; performing an assay to determine an expression level of a Paired Box 2 (PAX2) gene relative to an expression level of a control gene in said one or more cell lystates; performing an assay to determine an expression level of a beta defensin-1 (DEFB1) gene relative to the expression level of the control gene in said one or more cell lystates; and correlating the PAX2-to-DEFB1 expression ratio with a breast condition, wherein a PAX2-to-DEFB1 expression ratio of 100:1 or higher is indicative of the presence of breast cancer in the subject, and a PAX2-to-DEFB1 expression ratio of less than 100:1 is indicative of the presence of non-cancerous or pre-cancerous breast condition in the subject.