Methods of screening for supracolonic neoplasms based on stool samples containing a nucleic acid marker indicative of a neoplasm
View Patent ↗The invention provides methods and materials for detecting supracolonic aerodigestive premalignant and malignant neoplasms. Specifically, the invention provides methods and materials for determining whether a stool sample from a mammal contains a neoplasm-specific marker from a neoplasm located in the supracolonic aerodigestive tissue of a mammal.
1. A method for detecting a supracolonic aerodigestive neoplasm in a mammal, said method comprising:
detecting the presence of long DNA greater than 250 base pairs in length in a stool sample obtained from a mammal, wherein an amount of long DNA greater than 250 base pairs is indicative of a supracolonic aerodigestive neoplasm, wherein an amount of long DNA greater than 250 base pairs is an amount greater than expected to be present in a stool sample obtained from a mammal who does not have cancer, and wherein the sequence or identity of the long DNA is not in itself indicative of supracolonic aerodigestive neoplasm; and
performing at least one additional cancer screening technique to detect a location of the supracolonic aerodigestive neoplasm present in the mammal.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said supracolonic aerodigestive neoplasm comprises a premalignant neoplasm.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said supracolonic aerodigestive neoplasm comprises a malignant neoplasm.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said supracolonic aerodigestive neoplasm is selected from the group consisting of lung, naso-oro-pharyngeal, esophageal, stomach, liver, bile duct, gall bladder, small intestine, and pancreas neoplasms.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said mammal is a human.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said long DNA comprises DNA greater than 300 base pairs in length.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said long DNA comprises DNA greater than 400 base pairs in length.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said long DNA comprises DNA greater than 500 base pairs in length.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said long DNA comprises DNA greater than 1000 base pairs in length.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said method further comprises detecting at least one additional neoplasm-specific marker indicative of a neoplasm in said stool sample.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said at least one additional neoplasm-specific marker is selected from the group consisting of nucleic acid markers, polypeptide markers, and cell markers.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein said at least one additional neoplasm-specific marker is a neoplasm-specific nucleic acid marker.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein said neoplasm-specific nucleic acid marker is selected from the group consisting of nucleic acid having a point mutation and a nucleic acid that reflects microsatellite instability.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein said long DNA comprises DNA greater than 800 base pairs in length.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein said long DNA comprises DNA greater than 1500 base pairs in length.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein said long DNA comprises DNA greater than 1.8 Kb in length.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein said long DNA comprises DNA greater than 2500 base pairs in length.