A METHOD OF DETERMINING TUMOR CHARACTERISTICS BY DETERMINING ABNORMAL COPY NUMBER OR EXPRESSION LEVEL OF LIPID-ASSOCIATED GENES

摘要

The present invention relates to a method of determining tumor characteristics in tissue samples taken from a patient by determining the copy number or expression level of genes associated with lipid metabolism, synthesis, or action in the sample. This determination may be made by directly quantifying the gene copy number in the chromosomal material of the tissue sample, or by determining the transcription level of the gene in the tissue sample. The present invention is also drawn to physical platforms which are useful in carrying out the diagnostic method, specifically arrays of nucleic acids useful for determining the copy number of the lipid associated genes by hybridization techniques.