METHODS OF IDENTIFYING BIOMARKERS FOR CANCER

1 . A method of identifying diagnostic markers of cancer, the method comprising the steps of:

contacting a body fluid of a diseased subject having a cancer with a stabilizing agent capable of completely or substantially preventing the degradation or inactivation of a diagnostic marker;

analyzing the stabilized body fluid to determine at last one property of the diagnostic marker to create a cancer profile;

comparing the cancer profile with a control profile of a healthy subject not having the cancer, wherein the control profile is created in a like manner to the cancer profile; and

generating a cancer identifier panel from the compared cancer profile, wherein the cancer identifier panel contains at least one cancer diagnostic marker indicative of the cancer.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the stabilizing agent is selected from the group consisting of a protease inhibitor, a DNase inhibitor, and a RNase inhibitor.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the body fluid is selected from the group consisting of saliva, a mucous secretion, tears, sweat, semen, urine, a vaginal secretion, exhalate, blood, serum, and an anal secretion.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the stabilizing agent prevents the degradation or inactivation of the diagnostic marker for at least a twenty four hours period following interaction with the diagnostic agent.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the diagnostic marker is selected from the group consisting of a protein, a glycoprotein, a nucleic acid, an enzyme, an enzyme inhibitor, and a metabolite.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the stabilizing agent is useful to completely or substantially inactivate an enzyme selected from the group consisting of an amylase, a lysozyme, a peroxidase, a glycosidase, an esterase, a protease, and a peptidase.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the stabilizing agent is selected from the group consisting of Fixanal® Buffer 6.0 (Sigma-Aldrich Co.), acetic acid, aluminum hydroxide bentonite, aluminum sulfate hydrate, aluminum potassium sulfate dodecahydrate, benzoic acid, caffeine, and 3-tert-butyl-hydroxyanisole, or a combination thereof.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the stabilizing agent comprises a plurality of stabilizing agents each present in approximately the same concentration.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the stabilizing agent is capable of inhibiting degradation of the diagnostic marker to an inhibitory degree, wherein the inhibitory degree is selected from the group consisting of at least about 40%, at least about 45%, at least about 50%, at least about 55%, at least about 60%, at least about 65%, at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, and at least about 99%.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the stabilizing agent has a concentration selected from the group consisting of about 200 parts per million (ppm) to about 2000 ppm, about 400 ppm to about 1600 ppm, about 600 ppm to about 1400 ppm, about 800 ppm to about 1200 ppm, and about 400 ppm to about 600 ppm.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the stabilizing agent is able to inhibit the degradation or inactivation of the diagnostic marker for an inhibitory period selected from the group consisting of at least one minute, at least about five minutes, at least about ten minutes, at least about fifteen minutes, at least about thirty minutes, at least about one hour, at least about two hours, at least about four hours, and at least about eight hours.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the diagnostic marker is selected from the group consisting of Aldose reductase, Angiogenin, Annexin A1, B-cell activating factor (BAFF), B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2)-like 2, Beta Human chorionic gonadotropin, Ca15-3, Calcyclin, Calvasculin, Cancer Antigen CA 19-9, Cancer Antigen CA 15-3, Cathepsin D, Caveolin-1, Chromogranin A, Alpha-crystallin B chain (CRYAB), Endostatin, Eotaxin-2, Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), Ezrin, fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4), Galectin-3, γ-glutamylcysteine ligase regulatory chain (GCLR), Gelsolin, Glucose 6-phosphate (G6P), Glycoprotein 130 (gp130), Glutathione S-transferase Mu 1 (GSTM1), Hepsin, High-mobility group protein B1 (HMGB-1), Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 (IGFBP-1), Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 4 (IGFBP-4), Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 5 (IGFBP-5), Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6 (IGFBP-6), LGL, latency associated peptide (LAP), macrophage stimulating protein (MSP), MHC class I polypeptide-related sequence A (MICA), Nucleoside diphosphate kinase B (NME2), Neuron-specific Enolase (NSE), Osteopontin, Osteoprotegerin, Pepsinogen, Peroxiredoxin, Phosphoserine aminotransferase (PSAT1), Prostate Specific Antigen, Receptor tyrosine-protein kinase erbB-3 (ErbB3), Serpin B3, Vascular smooth muscle cell growth factor R2 (VSGF R2/KDR), Vascular endothelial growth factor R3 (VEGF R3/Flt-4), Thyroglobulin, Tyrosine kinase with immunoglobulin-like and EGF-like domains 2 (TIE-2), Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β1), Tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNF-R1), urokinase-type Plasminogen Activator (uPA), urokinase-type Plasminogen Activator Receptor (uPAR), BrcaI, BrcaII, kallikreins, e-cadherin, Hox peptide, and Engrailed-2.

13 . A method of identifying diagnostic markers of cancer, the method comprising the steps of:

bringing a body fluid of a diseased subject having a cancer into contact with a stabilizing agent capable of completely or substantially preventing the degradation or inactivation of a diagnostic marker;

analyzing the stabilized body fluid to determine at last one property of the diagnostic marker to create a cancer profile;

comparing the cancer profile with a control profile of a healthy subject not having the cancer, wherein the control profile is created in a like manner to the disease state profile; and

generating a cancer identifier panel from the compared cancer profile, wherein the cancer identifier panel contains at least one cancer diagnostic marker indicative of the cancer;

wherein the stabilizing agent comprises a plurality of stabilizers selected from the group

consisting of Fixanal® Buffer 6.0 (Sigma-Aldrich Co.), acetic acid, aluminum hydroxide bentonite, aluminum sulfate hydrate, aluminum potassium sulfate dodecahydrate, benzoic acid, caffeine, and 3-tert-butyl-hydroxyanisole, or a combination thereof; and

wherein the plurality of stabilizers are each present in approximately the same concentration.