The United States of America, as Represented by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services

J Silvio Gutkind

Vyomesh Patel

Alfredo Molinolo

James B Mitchell

Timothy D Veenstra

Ramiro Iglesias-Bartolome

Ana P Cotrim

Panomwat Amornphimoltham

Disclosed is a method of preventing the development of mucositis in a subject undergoing radiation therapy or chemotherapy for a disease in need thereof comprising administering an effective amount of a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, such as rapamycin, to the subject. Further disclosed is a method of increasing the lifespan of a normal oral keratinocyte and/or reducing oxidative stress in a normal epithelial cell, wherein the method comprises administering an effective amount of an mTOR inhibitor to a subject undergoing radiation therapy or chemotherapy for a disease in need thereof.

Methods of preventing the development of mucositis and related disorders

Disclosed herein is a method of detecting metastasis of a tumor in a subject, such as metastasis to a lymph node. The method includes directly determining an amount of desmoglein-3 (DSG-3) protein in a sample from the subject (such as a lymph node sample) and comparing the amount of DSG-3 protein to a control, wherein an increase in the amount of DSG-3 protein in the sample relative to the control indicates metastasis of the tumor to the lymph node. The disclosed methods further include selecting a therapy (for example, surgery, lymph node dissection, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of two or more thereof) for the subject based on the amount of DSG-3 protein in the sample from the subject.

Identification of DSG-3 as a biomarker for the detection of metastasis in lymph nodes

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Potomac, MD, United States of America

J Silvio Gutkind