Patent ID: 7897356

Claim:
A method of characterizing prostate cancer in a subject comprising: a) identifying a bio-signature of one or more exosome isolated from said subject, comprising: (i) determining the presence or level of CD9, CD63, or CD81 protein, or a combination thereof, from said one or more isolated exosome; (ii) determining the presence or level of PSMA and/or PCSA protein from said one or more isolated exosome; (iii) determining the presence or level of B7H3 and/or EpCam protein from said one or more isolated exosome; and b) comparing said presence or levels of said proteins from said isolated exosome to a reference, wherein elevated presence or levels as compared to said reference indicate that said subject may be predisposed to or afflicted with prostate cancer, thereby characterizing said prostate cancer.