Patent ID: 8313912

Claim:
A method for diagnosing larynx cancer in a larynx tissue sample from a patient suspected of having larynx cancer comprising determining the presence in said larynx tissue sample of an oligosaccharide sequence according to Formula (Sac1) x GalNAcβ4(Fucα3) y GlcNAc (I) wherein x and y are each independently 0 or 1 and Sac1 is NeuNAcα3 or NeuNAcα6, and wherein the determination comprises (a) contacting said larynx tissue sample with an antibody to said oligosaccharide sequence, and determining the presence of a combination of said antibody bound to said oligosaccharide sequence, the presence of said oligosaccharide sequence being an indication of the presence of larynx cancer in said larynx tissue sample, or (b) releasing the oligosaccharide structures from said larynx tissue sample by enzymatic or chemical methods to form a fraction containing free oligosaccharide structures or conjugates from said larynx tissue sample, and determining the presence of said oligosaccharide sequence in said fraction, the presence of said oligosaccharide sequence in said fraction being an indication of the presence of larynx cancer in said larynx tissue sample.