Patent ID: 7713710

Claim:
A method of diagnosing the presence of solid tumor stem cells in a patient having a solid tumor of epithelial origin, wherein the method comprises: (i) obtaining a patient sample; and (ii) identifying the presence of the solid tumor stem cells in the patient sample by contacting said patient sample with antibodies that bind cells of the patient sample and that selectively detect the solid tumor stem cells relative to solid tumor cells, where the solid tumor stem cells are characterized by: (a) being tumorigenic; (b) expressing CD44; (c) not expressing detectable levels of one or more LINEAGE markers selected from the group consisting of CD2, CD3, CD10, CD14, CD16, CD19, CD31, CD45, CD64, and CD140b; and (d) not expressing CD24; wherein said contacting of step (ii) comprises: (I) contacting the patient sample with a first antibody that binds CD44, a second antibody that binds one or more LiNEAGE markers selected from the group consisting of CD2, CD3, CD10, CD14, CD16, CD19, CD31, CD45, CD64, and CD 140b, and a third antibody that binds CD24; and (II) detecting the presence of cells from the sample that bind to the first antibody, that do not detectably bind to the second antibody, and that do not detectably bind to the third antibody, wherein the detected cells are the solid tumor stem cells.