The present invention is directed to methods for detecting a plasma cell dyscrasia like myeloma or MGUS, methods for determining whether a plasma cell dyscrasiais stable or progressive, methods for determining a risk for disease relapse, and methods for determining a response by a subject having a plasma cell dyscrasia to a therapy.

The invention relates to biomarkers, and to novel biological markers for diagnosing cancer. In particular, the invention relates to the use of these compounds as diagnostic and prognostic markers in assays for detecting cancer, such as oesophagogastric cancer, and corresponding methods of detection. The invention also relates to methods of determining the efficacy of treating these diseases with a therapeutic agent. The assays are qualitative and/or quantitative, and are adaptable to large-scale screening and clinical trials.

Described herein are immunoassay methods for detecting and/or monitoring a cancer in a patient. In the method a biofluid sample from a patient is contacted with a monoclonal antibody that specifically binds to a C-terminal epitope of type XXVIII collagen, and the amount of binding between the monoclonal antibody and peptides in the sample is detected and determined.