Abstract: The present invention relates to compounds and methods for detection and treatment of carcinomas and their precursor lesions. The invention provides DNase nucleic acids and polypeptides useful for the detection and treatment of carcinomas and their precursor lesions. The invention is more specifically related to a method for detection of carcinomas and their precursor lesions comprising the detection of the level and/or the subcellular localization of one or more DNase molecules in biological samples. Furthermore the present invention provides methods for early diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of the disease course of carcinomas and their precursor lesions as well as for the treatment of said lesions.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for the early diagnosis of carcinomas and their preliminary stages, which comprises determining the overexpression of a cell cycle regulatory protein in a solubilized body sample. The present invention is particularly directed to a method for detecting cervical carcinomas, cervical intraepithelial neoplasias, or cervical carcinomas in-situ from a solubilized cervical body sample of a human subject, by solubilizing the cervical body sample in a lysis buffer, and determining the overexpression of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor p16 in the solubilized cervical sample. The invention also concerns a test kit usable for this purpose as well as an in-vitro diagnostic device.