The present invention describes a method for detecting castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) in a patient afflicted with prostate cancer comprising (a) performing a direct analysis comprising immunofluorescent staining and morphological characterization of nucleated cells in a blood sample obtained from the patient to detect circulating tumor cells (CTC), (b) determining prevalence of a CTC subpopulation associated with CRPC comprising detecting a measurable feature of each biomarker in a panel of morphological and protein biomarkers, and (c) comparing the prevalence of said CTC subpopulation to a predetermined threshold value, wherein the prevalence of the CTC subpopulation associated with CRPC above said predetermined threshold value is indicative of CRPC. In some embodiments, the CTC subpopulation associated with CRPC comprises CK CTCs. In some embodiments, the CTC subpopulation associated with CRPC comprises small CTCs. In additional embodiments, the methods of the invention further comprise molecular analysis of the CTCs.

The disclosure provides a method for detecting prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) obtained from a patient afflicted with prostate cancer comprising (a) performing a direct analysis comprising immunofluorescent staining and morphological characterization of nucleated cells in a blood sample obtained from the patient to detect circulating tumor cells (CTC), and (b) determining the number of CTCs expressing PSMA. The disclosure also provides a provides a method for identifying a patient afflicted with prostate cancer as a candidate for PSMA targeted therapy comprising (a) performing a direct analysis comprising immunofluorescent staining and morphological characterization of nucleated cells in a blood sample obtained from the patient to detect circulating tumor cells (CTC), (b) determining prevalence of a CTC subpopulation expressing PSMA, and (c) comparing the prevalence of the CTC subpopulation expressing PSMA to a reference value, wherein the prevalence of the CTC subpopulation expressing PSMA above the reference value identifies the patient as a candidate for PSMA targeted therapy. The disclosure further provides a provides a method for predicting resistance to androgen receptor (AR) targeted therapy a patient afflicted with prostate cancer comprising (a) performing a direct analysis comprising immunofluorescent staining and morphological characterization of nucleated cells in a blood sample obtained from the patient to detect circulating tumor cells (CTC), (b) determining prevalence of a CTC subpopulation expressing PSMA, and (c) comparing the prevalence of the CTC subpopulation expressing PSMA to a reference value, wherein the prevalence of the CTC subpopulation expressing PSMA above the reference value is indicative of resistance to androgen receptor (AR) targeted therapy.

A system for identification of a biological structure present in a liquid biopsy sample is provided. The system identifies common biological structures and rare biological structures based on their fluorescence characteristics and morphology. The identified biological structures may be used in diagnosis and treatment of a human afflicted with a disease. Examples described in this disclosure also relate to methods and assays that may be used together with the systems of this disclosure for diagnosis and treatment of a human afflicted with a disease.

This invention relates to novel approaches for the identification and stratification of subtypes of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), in particular to novel PDAC subtype-specific markers, and to diagnostic kits comprising reagents for detecting said markers.

A method is described for the detection of at least two of cytokeratins 8, 18 and 19 in a sample. It is practiced by contacting the sample with a solid phase having a first antibody with specificity for cytokeratin 8, a second antibody with specificity for cytokeratin 18 and, optionally, a third antibody with specificity for a first epitope of cytokeratin 19 bound to it and allowing cytokeratins in the sample to bind to the bound antibodies to form complexes. The complexes are then contacted with a first labelled antibody with specificity for a dimer of cytokeratin 8 and 18 and optionally a second labelled antibody with specificity for a second epitope of cytokeratin 19 and allowing the labelled antibodies to bind to the complexes. The labelled antibodies bound to the complexes are then detected. A method for quantitative determination of soluble fragments of at least two of cytokeratin 8, 18 and 19 in a sample and a kit are also described.

The present invention provides a method for determining the prognosis of cancer in a subject. The method comprises measuring the amount of megakaryocytes in a sample from the subject. Usually, the sample is a blood sample. The method may also comprise measuring the number of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in the sample, and in some embodiments a comparison of the number of megakaryocytes and CTCs in the sample. The present invention also provides methods of treatment for cancer in a patient for whom a poor prognosis is predicted using a method of prognosis of the invention.

Disclosed herein are antibodies having binding specificity to the amino acid sequences Ala Ser Ser Gly Leu Thr Val Glu Val Asp (SEQ ID NO:1) and Thr Val Glu Val Asp (SEQ ID NO:14), and methods of detecting cell death in a sample, comprising contacting the sample with a first antibody specific for a C-terminal amino acid sequence Ala Ser Ser Gly Leu Thr Val Glu Val Asp (SEQ ID NO:1) or Thr Val Glu Val Asp (SEQ ID NO:14) of a CK18 protein fragment having a C-terminal amino acid sequence of Val Glu Val Asp (SEQ ID NO:2) and a second antibody that specifically binds an epitope that is present in both full-length CK18 and the CK18 protein fragment, and that does not overlap with SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:14, under conditions such that the CK1 8 protein fragment present in the sample specifically binds to the first antibody and the second antibody, wherein one of the antibodies is bound to a solid support and the other antibody is bound to a detection moiety capable of producing a signal; optionally removing any unbound or excess material; and detecting the signal from the detection moiety, wherein the signal is positively correlated with the presence of the CK18 protein fragment in the sample.

A method is described for the detection of at least two of cytokeratins 8, 18 and 19 in a sample. It is practiced by contacting the sample with a solid phase having a first antibody with specificity for cytokeratin 8 , a second antibody with specificity for cytokeratin 18 and, optionally, a third antibody with specificity for a first epitope of cytokeratin 19 bound to it and allowing cytokeratins in the sample to bind to the bound antibodies to form complexes. The complexes are then contacted with a first labelled antibody with specificity for a dimer of cytokeratin 8 and 18 and optionally a second labelled antibody with specificity for a second epitope of cytokeratin 19 and allowing the labelled antibodies to bind to the complexes. The labelled antibodies bound to the complexes are then detected. A method for quantitative determination of soluble fragments of at least two of cytokeratin 8, 18 and 19 in a sample and a kit are also described.

The disclosure provides methods and materials for detecting endogenous IgA antibodies to one or more, or all, of OmpC (ACA), Ki67 (AKiA), TK1, integrin (AINTA) and keratin (AKERA), which are useful to diagnose and distinguish chronic enteropathies, e.g. gastrointestinal neoplasms, e.g., gastrointestinal lymphoma, and, inflammatory conditions, e g inflammatory bowel disease, in felines.

Disclosed is an isolated monoclonal antibody comprising a heavy chain and a light chain, wherein the heavy chain comprises CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3 consisting of amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2 and 3, respectively, and the light chain comprises CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3 consisting of amino acid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NOs: 4, 5 and 6, respectively.