NOVELTY - Using an antibody which selectively binds with prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) to inhibit the growth of cancer cells and prolong the life of a subject with a cancer associated with PSCA, is new.
USE - The antibodies are used to detect and/or kill a PSCA-expressing tumor cell within a subject (claimed). The cancer being treated is prostate, pancreatic or bladder cancer and can be a metastatic form of these cancers (claimed).
ADVANTAGE - Using antibodies to detect PSCA provides greater specificity than detecting prostate specific antigen (PSA) and can be used to distinguish between benign prostatic hyperplasia and malignant prostate cancer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION - INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are also included for the following:
(1) administering a circulating antibody which selectively binds with PSCA and will selectively bind and target the PSCA-expressing cell tumor cell within a subject;
(2) decreasing the serum level of PSCA in a subject through administration of an antibody that selectively binds with PSCA; and
(3) quantifying the amount of PSCA protein in a sample comprising contacting the sample with an anti-PSCA antibody to form a PSCA/anti-PSCA antibody complex and quantifying the amount of complex formed which correlates to the amount of PSCA protein in the sample.
