PAUL EDWARD O'BRIEN, MD
Osteopathic Medicine at Ashley Ave, Charleston, SC

6037129, Mar 14, 2000

May 28, 1998

9/086372

David J. Cole - Mt. Pleasant SC
Paul L. Baron - Charleston SC
Paul H. O'Brien - Charleston SC

Medical University of South Carolina - SC

C12Q 168, C07H 2104

435 6

A method of detecting the metastasis of primary breast cancer to a lymph node is provided, comprising detecting, in lymph node tissue, the presence of a nucleic acid of c-myc, PIP or keratin-19. The presence of any one of these nucleic acids in lymph node tissue is associated with metastatic breast cancer. The presence of one or more of these markers in lymph node tissue or other tissue indicates that cells from the primary tumor have migrated from the breast tissue to the lymph node or other tissue. Also provided is a method of predicting the histopathologic stage of a cancer in a patient without having to perform a histopathologic analysis, comprising detecting, in lymph node tissue from the patient, the presence of a nucleic acid of c-myc, the presence of a nucleic acid of c-myc being correlated with stage I cancer as determined by histopathology. Alternatively, the absence of a nucleic acid of PIP and the absence of a nucleic acid of keratin-19 are correlated with stage I cancer as determined by histopathology. In another embodiment, the presence of a nucleic acid of PIP is correlated with stages later than stage I cancer as determined by histopathology.