Patent ID: 7732141

Claim:
A method for detecting extracellular DNA from all or a portion of a drug resistance-associated gene in blood plasma or serum from a human or animal with a neoplasm in a brain of the human or animal for evaluating, monitoring, predicting, treating, or making a determination of drug-resistance in the neoplasm, the method comprising the steps of: a) extracting extracellular mammalian DNA from blood plasma or serum of a human or animal with a neoplasm in a brain of the human or animal; b) amplifying or signal amplifying a portion of the extracted DNA, wherein said fraction comprises extracellular DNA from a drug-resistance-associated gene, and wherein amplification is performed qualitatively or quantitatively using primers or probes specific for said DNA to produce an amplified product or signal; and c) detecting the amplified product or signal.