CADHERIN-17 AS DIAGNOSTIC MARKER AND THERAPEUTIC TARGET FOR LIVER CANCER

Abstract

Compositions and methods for diagnosing, treating and/or preventing cancers characterized by CDH 17 overexpression based on the detection of CDH 17 or the use of CDH 17 as a target for therapeutic intervention or prophylactic intervention are provided. Methods for diagnosing and /or monitoring liver cancers using the expressing of CDH 17 involve detecting and/or quantitating the CDH 17 protein or encoding nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) in a biological sample such as urine from the subject. The presence of CDH 17 molecule in liver tissues denotes the incidence of liver cancer. The methods can be used to detect either soluble or truncated forms of CDH 17 by using antibodies specific for the unique regions spanning domains 1 and 2 (D1-D2) of the truncated and secreted CDH 17. Methods for treating liver cancers using CDH 17 as a target and of sensitizing cells with aberrant expression of CDH 17 have also been developed. The methods include suppression or knockdown of the expression of CDH 17 by administering an effective amount of a CDH 17 inhibitor. The suppression or knockdown of CDH 17 reduces in size liver tumors derived from tumor cells that exhibit an increased expression of CDH 17 and renders liver tumor cells more sensitive to certain chemotherapeutic drugs, such as Taxol, Epirubicin, and Carboplatin, and p53-based gene therapy.