Process for the diagnosis and treatment of squamous cell carcinomas based on the expression of the variable exon v6 of the CD44 gene

摘要

The invention concerns a method of diagnosing and treating squamous cell carcinomas, the method being based on the expression of the variant exon v6 of the CD44 gene as the molecular target. In a preferred embodiment, v6-specific antibody molecules, in particular the monoclonal antibody BIWA-1 (VFF-18), are used for this purpose. The preferred processes are those characterised in that an antibody molecule is used which recognises the amino acid sequence QWFGNRWHEGYRQT, more preferably the amino acid sequence WFGNRWHEGYR.