DIAGNOSIS OF PROSTATE CANCER
Methods for diagnosing prostate cancer, and differentiate prostate cancer from other prostate complications, and use of said method, and diagnosing and monitoring lymph gland metastasis, post-operative examinations, and examinations during or after radiation, cytostatic, and androgen treatments are disclosed. The methods comprise injecting tracer-labelled PSA or hK2 specific antibodies, visualising PSA or hK2 producing tissue with the aid of a visualisation method, and diagnosing prostate cancer from the difference in visualisation.
1 . An in vivo method for diagnosing prostate cancer, said method consisting essentially of the steps of:
injecting tracer-labeled antibodies specific for hK2 into a subject suspected to have prostate cancer,
diagnosing prostate cancer by visualising biological structures to which the tracer-labeled hK2 specific antibodies are bound.
2 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein said visualising is a radiologic PET-scan visualisation.
3 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein said tracer-label is technetium-99m.
4 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein said biological structures are visualised using radiologic PET-scan visualisation coupled with a second radiological visualisation method selected from the group consisting of computed tomography (CT) visualisation, computerized axial tomography (CAT) visualisation and magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) visualisation.
5 . A method for examination, or monitoring, of lymph gland metastasis, post-operative examinations, and examinations during or after radiation, cytostatic, and androgen treatments of a subject previously diagnosed as having prostate cancer, said method consisting essentially of the steps of:
injecting tracer-labeled antibodies specific for hK2 into a subject previously diagnosed as having prostate cancer,
visualising hK2 by PET-scan.
6 . A method for differentiating prostate cancer from other prostate conditions, said method consisting essentially of the steps of:
injecting tracer-labeled antibodies specific for hK2 into a subject suspected to have prostate cancer,
differentiating prostate cancer from other prostate conditions by visualising biological structures to which the tracer-labeled hK2 specific antibodies are bound.
7 . The method for differentiating prostate cancer from other prostate conditions according to claim 6 , wherein injecting tracer-labeled antibodies specific for hK2 into a subject comprises:
an intravenous injection of the tracer-labeled antibodies specific for hK2 into the subject.
8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method is for investigating metastasis.
9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the method is for examining or monitoring lymph gland metastasis.