SNF1-related serine/threonine kinase was found to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of breast cancers and is a potential diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic target.

Various studies have shown that estradiol and progesterone play a critical role in the development of breast cancer. Moreover, aberrant expression or mutations of protein kinases have been linked to the pathogenesis of cancer in humans. The identification of a protein or small molecule that provides a molecular target in this pathway would provide significant diagnostic and therapeutic benefit to numerous cancer patients.

This invention relates to the discovery of a SNF1-related serine/threonine kinase and its nucleotide sequence, Hormonally Up-regulated, Neu-Tumor-Associated Kinase (HUNK). HUNK is markedly down regulated in a variety of human breast cancers and provides a useful molecular target for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy.

• Use to diagnose ductal and lobular carcinomas of the breast
• Use to screen for a HUNK agonist or antagonist
• Use HUNK or HUNK nucleotide sequence for diagnosis and prognosis of disease
• Use of inverse correlation of HUNK expression and tumor grade for ovarian cancer prognosis