Human βV-tubulin antibody and methods of use

1. A method for determining whether a prostate sample from a subject is cancerous, comprising

contacting the sample with an antibody against human βV-tubulin, or a fragment thereof capable of binding to human βV-tubulin, wherein the antibody or fragment is directed against an epitope comprising GEEAFEDEEEEIDG (SEQ ID NO:1) or CGEEAFEDEEEEIDG (SEQ ID NO:2),

quantitating an amount of antibody or fragment bound,

comparing the amount of bound antibody or fragment to a predetermined control amount in healthy prostate tissue, and

determining whether the prostate sample is cancerous, wherein the amount of antibody or fragment bound equal to or in excess of the predetermined control amount indicates that the prostate sample is not cancerous, and the amount of antibody or fragment bound below the predetermined control amount indicates that the prostate sample is cancerous.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the antibody or fragment does not bind human βIII-tubulin.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the antibody or fragment does not bind a protein comprising YEDDEEESEAQGPK (SEQ ID NO:4) or a protein comprising CYEDDEEESEAQGPK (SEQ ID NO:3).

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the antibody or fragment does not bind human βI-tubulin.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the antibody or fragment does not bind human N-Myc oncoprotein.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the antibody is a monoclonal antibody.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the antibody is a human antibody, a humanized antibody or a chimeric antibody.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fragment comprises a Fab, a Fab′, a F(ab′)2, a Fd, a Fv, a complementarity determining region (CDR), or a single-chain antibody (scFv).

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising treating the subject determined to have a cancerous prostate with an anti-cancer medication.