This document provides methods and materials for treating cancers including renal cancer (e.g., renal cell carcinoma) as well as ovarian, breast, prostate, colon, pancreatic, bladder, liver, lung, and thyroid cancers and melanoma. For example, methods and material for using one or more inhibitors of an SCD1 polypeptide to treat renal cell carcinoma (e.g., clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC)) or to increase the efficacy of a renal cell carcinoma treatment are provided. In addition, this document provides methods and materials for using elevated SCD1 expression levels in diseased tissues as an indication that an SCD1 inhibitor can be used as an appropriate therapeutic to ameliorate the disease.

The invention discloses a method of treating, preventing or ameliorating tumor or symptoms resulting from defective neurofibromatosis type-2 gene in a subject by administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a ubiquitin-proteasome system inhibitor which inhibits or slows the growth of neurofibromatosis type-2-deficient tumor or associated symptoms. The invention also includes methods of diagnosis and screening of patients for neurofibromatosis type-2 and mesothelioma.

A dye-drug conjugate for preventing, treating, or imaging cancer having the following structure:

##STR00001##

wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are independently selected from the group consisting of —H, alkyl, alkyl-sulphonate, alkylcarboxylic, alkylamino, aryl, —SO.sub.3H, —PO.sub.3H, —OH, —NH.sub.2, and -halogen; wherein Y.sub.1 and Y.sub.2 is independently selected from the group consisting of alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, alkylsulphonate, alkylcarboxylic, alkylamino, ω-alkylaminium, ω-alkynyl, PEGyl, PEGylcarboxylate, ω-PEGylaminium, ω-acyl-NH, ω-acyl-lysinyl-, ω-acyl-triazole, ω-PEGylcarboxyl-NH—, ω-PEGylcarboxyl-lysinyl, and ω-PEGylcarboxyl-triazole; wherein X is selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen, halogen, CN, Me, NH.sub.2, SH and OH; and R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 are independently a hydrogen, a therapeutic agent, or an imaging moiety, wherein the therapeutic agent is selected from the group consisting of a platinum-based therapeutic agent, a small molecule therapeutic agent, a peptide, a protein, a polymer, an siRNA, a microRNA, and a nanoparticle, wherein the imaging is a radio-isotope selected from the group consisting of F18, I-125, I-124 I-123, I-131, and small molecule labeled with any of these isotopes, or wherein the imaging moiety is a chelator-complexed radioactive isotope, wherein the radioactive isotope is selected from the group consisting of Cu-64, In-111, Tc-99m, Ga-68, Lu-177, Zo-89, Th-227 and Gd-157.

Provided are methods for screening a subject for cancer. The methods involve obtaining a blood sample from the subject and determining a level of Bridging Integrator 1 (BIN1) isoforms comprising exon 12a in the sample. Optionally, the method involves determining a level of 12a+/13− BIN isoform (comprising exon 12a but lacking exon 13) in the sample. An elevated level of 12a+ (e.g., 12a+/13−) BIN1 isoforms in the blood sample indicates the subject has cancer. Also provided are methods for determining efficacy of a cancer therapy in a subject and methods of treating cancer. Isolated antibodies that selectively bind human 12a+ BIN1 are also provided as well as kits for determining 12a+/13− BIN1 isoforms.

Methods for determining the presence of cancer stem cells by detecting GD2 expression. Also provided are methods for reducing proliferation of cancer stem cells by contacting the cells with a GD2 targeting agent, such as an anti-GD2 antibody or a GD3 synthase inhibitor. GD3 synthase inhibitor compounds are also provided.

The invention relates to peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) monolayers or bone-marrow cell monolayers and methods for its culture and corresponding uses of said monolayers. The present invention also relates, in some aspects, to screening methods comprising the PBMC monolayer or bone-marrow cell monolayer of the invention for determination of response or lack of response of a disease to a therapeutic agent and/or drug screening methods. In some aspects, the invention further relates to methods for diagnosing a disease or predisposition to a disease in a PBMC donor or bone-marrow cell donor comprising the PBMCs/bone-marrow cells cultured according to the method of the invention and/or to methods for determining whether the disease is likely to respond or is responsive to treatment with a therapeutic agent.

The present invention concerns the use of protein biomarkers for use in facilitating in the prognosis and/or treatment regime of bladder cancer. In particular, the invention relates to the use of shed protein fragments, such as fragments of Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) and/or epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) detected in a sample of urine, as biomarkers for use in facilitating the prognosis and/or treatment regime of urothelial bladder cancer.

The problem to be solved is to provide an anti-human MUC1 antibody Fab fragment that is expected to be useful in the diagnosis and/or treatment of a cancer, particularly, the diagnosis and/or treatment of breast cancer or bladder cancer, and a diagnosis approach and/or a treatment approach using a conjugate comprising the Fab fragment. The solution is an anti-human MUC1 antibody Fab fragment comprising a heavy chain fragment comprising a heavy chain variable region consisting of the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 8 or 10, and a light chain comprising a light chain variable region consisting of the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 12, and a conjugate comprising the Fab fragment.

The present disclosure relates to a method for validating an existence of a urinary exosome including steps as follows. A urine sample is obtained from a subject. The urine sample is performing a serially centrifugation step to obtain a third precipitate. The third precipitate is resuspended with an extraction solvent to obtain a third mixture, and the third mixture is centrifuged to obtain a fourth supernatant. The fourth supernatant is analyzed by a mass spectrometry to detect whether there is a particular peptide therein.

Treatment of multiple myeloma with a combination of panobinostat and bortezomib at specified doses adjusted for safety.