Patent ID: 7858330

Claim:
A method of diagnosing the presence of a multiple myeloma tumor in a mammal, said method comprising detecting the presence of cells expressing a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 95% amino acid sequence identity to: (a) the polypeptide having the amino acid sequence shown in FIG. 22 (SEQ ID NO: 19); (b) the polypeptide having the amino acid sequence shown in FIG. 22 (SEQ ID NO: 19), lacking its associated signal peptide; (c) an extracellular domain of the polypeptide having the amino acid sequence shown in FIG. 22 (SEQ ID NO: 19), with its associated signal peptide; (d) an extracellular domain of the polypeptide having the amino acid sequence shown in FIG. 22 (SEQ ID NO: 19), lacking its associated signal peptide; (e) a polypeptide encoded by the nucleotide sequence shown in FIG. 21 (SEQ ID NO: 18); or (f) a polypeptide encoded by the full-length coding region of the nucleotide sequence shown in FIG. 21 (SEQ ID NO: 18), said method comprising contacting a test sample of tissue cells obtained from said mammal with an antibody that binds to said polypeptide or extracellular domain in combination with an antibody that binds to CD38, and detecting the formation of a complex between the antibody that binds the polypeptide or extracellular domain, and the polypeptide or extracellular domain, and a complex between an antibody that binds to CD38 and CD38, wherein an increased number of cells demonstrating said complex formations, as compared to a control sample, is indicative of the presence of a multiple myeloma tumor in said mammal.