Appeal No. 2006-2415 Page 3
Application No. 09/410,336
Discussion
1. Claims
Claims 33-39 are pending and are on appeal. Appellants have not argued the
claims separately. Therefore, the claims subject to each rejection stand or fall together.
37 CFR § 41.37(c)(1)(vii). Claims 33 and 34 are representative and read as follows:
33. A method of identifying the location of breast cancer cells within a breast
duct or breast ductal network, said method comprising:
providing a compound comprising a targeting agent coupled to an identifying
agent;
delivering said compound into at least one breast duct and allowing said
delivered compound to specifically bind to at least one breast cancer cell within at least
one duct or ductal network;
washing said breast duct or ductal network with a solution to remove non-
specifically bound compound; and
detecting the presence of said identifying agent within said breast duct or ductal
network;
wherein the presence of said identifying agent identifies the location of breast
cancer cells within said a breast duct or breast ductal network.
34. A method as in claim 33, wherein delivering comprises non-percutaneous
cannulation or catheterization of the breast duct.
Thus, claim 33 is directed to a process of locating breast cancer cells within a
breast duct by delivering a compound comprising a targeting agent coupled to an
identifying agent to the breast duct and allowing the compound to bind to cancer cells
within the duct. The targeting agent can be an antibody. Specification, page 9. The
identifying agent can be gadolinium. Id. at page 11.
The breast duct is then washed with a solution to remove non-specifically bound
compound. The specifically bound identifying agent remains within the duct and
provides the location of the cancer cells within the duct.
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