Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research

Joel Sheinfeld

Lloyd J Old

Kenneth O Lloyd

Carlos Cordon-Cardo

Connie L Finstad

Mryon R Melamed

The subject invention describes a method of determining the secretor status of an individual which comprises obtaining a sample of a biological fluid from the individual and determining whether the sample includes the Lewis.sup.a or Lewis.sup.b antigens, the presence of the Lewis.sup.a antigen in the sample indicating that the individual is a nonsecretor, the presence of the Lewis.sup.b antigen in the sample indicating that the individual is a secretor, and the presence of neither antigen indicating the secretor status of the individual is inconclusive. The invention also provides a method of further determining the secretor status of an individual of having an inconclusive secretor status which comprises determining whether the biological fluid sample from the individual includes A, B or precursor type 1 chain antigens, the presence of any such antigens in the sample indicating that the individual is a secretor, the lack of any such antigens in the sample indicating that the individual is a nonsecretor. The invention provides a method of determining whether a human female subject is susceptible to urogenital infection which comprises determining whether the subject is a secretor according to the hereinabove-described methods, a secretor being susceptible to such an infection. The present application also provides a method of disstinguishing urothelial carcinoma from normal tissue, and identifying human germ cell tumor as seminoma or nonseminoma. Finally, the invention provides a panel comprising some or all of the monoclonal antibodies H 29-36 (ATCC No. HB 8248), S8 (ATCC No. HB 9036), T 174 (ATCC No. HB 8242), T 218 (ATCC No. HB 8249), P 12 (ATCC No. HB 8551), F 3 (ATCC No. HB 8217), and K 21 (ATCC No. HB 8549).

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New York, NY, United States of America

Joel Sheinfeld