The present invention relates to a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-specific binding protein, wherein the PSMA-specific binding protein is a lipocalin 2 (Lcn2)-derived binding protein and binds to PSMA with a K.sub.D of 10 nM or lower. The present invention also relates to a nucleic acid molecule encoding the PSMA-specific binding protein of the invention, a vector comprising said nucleic acid molecule of the invention and a host cell transformed with the vector. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method of producing the PSMA-specific binding protein of the invention, the method comprising culturing the host cell of the invention under suitable conditions and isolating the PSMA-specific binding protein produced. The present invention further relates to a protein conjugate comprising the PSMA-specific binding protein of the invention, or the PSMA-specific binding protein produced by the method of the invention. In addition, the present invention relates to a pharmaceutical or diagnostic composition; to the PSMA-specific binding protein of the invention, the nucleic acid molecule of the invention, the vector of the invention, the host cell of the invention or the PSMA-specific binding protein produced by the method of the invention, for use in therapy and/or diagnosis, and in particular for use in the therapy and/or diagnosis of tumors, Crohn's disease and/or neurological diseases.

Disclosed herein are methods of diagnosing or prognosing aggressive prostate cancer in a subject and methods of treating a subject with aggressive prostate cancer. For example, the methods can include measuring increased expression of aggressive prostate cancer-related molecules (such as FOLH1, SPARC, TGFB1, CAMKK2, NCOA2, EGFR, or PSA) and optionally administering a therapeutically effective amount of aggressive prostate cancer therapy.

A method for predicting patient survival comprises determining a level of STK1 (serum thymidine kinase 1) material in a body sample from a patient diagnosed with prostate cancer using an antibody or a fragment thereof specifically binding to a serum form of human TK1. The method also comprises predicting survival of the patient based on the determined level of STK1 material in the body sample.

The present invention is based on the identification of castration resistant neuroendocrine prostate cancer (CRPC-NE) features in the circulation, and relates to methods and compositions of identifying CRPC-NE patients by detecting these features.

A method that provides a graphical indication of whether a patient will have cancer recurrence uses univariate and bivariate prognostic features that were generated as part of a minimal spanning tree (MST). The method determines the values of first and second features. A first value is measured by detecting objects in an image of tissue from the cancer patient stained with a protein-specific IHC biomarker. A second value is measured using objects marked with an mRNA-specific probe biomarker detected in the tissue. The first feature is the univariate prognostic feature for cancer recurrence in a cohort of cancer patients. A combination of the first and second features is the bivariate prognostic feature for cancer recurrence in the cohort. The first and second features are elements of the MST. Nodes of the MST represent the univariate features, edges represent the bivariate features, and edge weights represent prognostic significance of bivariate features.

The present invention relates to compositions and methods for the prevention or the treatment of prostate cancer, wherein said compositions comprise an antibody binding to progastrin and said methods comprise the use of an antibody binding to progastrin.

The invention provides a compound characterized by formula 1: X1-Trp-Glu-Gly-Asn-X2, wherein cleavage of the compound into a fragment 1 comprising X1 and a fragment 2 comprising X2 generates a detectable signal. The invention further provides an in vitro method for detecting protease activity in a subject's body fluid, comprising contacting the body fluid with the compound of the invention and detecting a signal, wherein the body fluid may comprise a hydrolytic enzyme derived from prostate cancer cells. Furthermore, the invention provides a kit comprising the compound of the invention and a measurement buffer. In addition, the invention provides the use of the compound, the in vitro method or the kit of the invention for the detection of prostate cancer, or for monitoring a subject that is suspected of having prostate cancer, has an increased risk of developing prostate cancer, or has had prostate cancer. The invention also provides the use of the compound of the invention in a method of treating prostate cancer, the method comprising carrying out the in vitro method for detecting protease activity in a subject's body fluid, and treating prostate cancer in a subject for which protease activity, has been detected.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to improved methods for predicting whether a prostate tissue biopsy obtained from a subject will contain detectable prostate cancer. In some embodiments, the disclosure provides improved prostate antigen standards for quantifying levels of prostate antigens.

The present technology is directed to compounds, compositions, medicaments, and methods related to the treatment of cancers expressing PSMA. The compounds are of Formulas I & II

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or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. The present technology is especially well-suited for use in treating prostate cancer.

The present invention relates to compositions and methods for cancer diagnosis, research and therapy, including but not limited to, cancer markers. In particular, the present invention relates to LRG1 protein markers for use in the diagnosis, prognosis, and determination of treatment of prostate cancer.