Patent ID: 7799518

Claim:
A method of assessing whether a patient is afflicted with ovarian cancer, the method comprising: a) determining the level of expression of the SLC39A4 marker in a patient sample, wherein the SLC39A4 marker is a marker that is at least 95% identical to SEQ ID NO:31 and the same length as SEQ ID NO:31 or a marker that is at least 95% identical to SEQ ID NO:32 and the same length as SEQ ID NO:32; b) determining the level of expression of the SLC39A4 marker in a control non-ovarian cancer sample; and c) comparing the level of expression of the SLC39A4 marker in the patient sample to the level of expression of the SLC39A4 marker in the control sample; wherein an increase in the level of expression of the SLC39A4 marker in the patient sample as compared to the level of expression of the SLC39A4 marker in the control sample is an indication that the patient is afflicted with ovarian cancer, thereby assessing whether a patient is afflicted with ovarian cancer.