S. J. Mather

123I radioiodinated antibody imaging of occult ovarian cancer

A monoclonal antibody HMFG2 labeled with iodine 123 (123I) was given to a patient who had ovarian cancer. The scan taken 18 hours after administration of the antibody demonstrated the presence and the position of residual tumor in the pelvis that was not previously detected by ultrasonography and computerized tomography (CT) scanning. The presence of tumor was confirmed by surgery and histologic as well as immunoperoxidase examination of resected tissues. The tumor mass found was less than 0.8 cm in diameter. It is concluded that, in the search for residual or early ovarian cancer in the pelvis, monoclonal antibody scanning using 123I‐labeled HMFG2 can complement ultrasonography and CT scanning.

Tumour-associated monoclonal antibodies for the diagnosis and assessment of ovarian cancer.

Summary. A tumour‐associated radiolabelled monoclonal antibody (HMFG 2) was used to investigate 51 patients who were referred with a pelvic mass and suspected ovarian cancer or recurrent disease. The day before operation the 123I‐labelled antibody was injected and the patients then underwent radioimmunoscintigraphy immediately and again 4 and 22 h after the injection. An exploratory laparotomy with appropriate surgery was then performed and the tumours were staged. Tumours were positively imaged 3 min‐22 h after injection in all the patients with ovarian cancer, with a mean 0.6% of the injected antibody taken up by the tumour. The presence of HMFG antigen on the tumour was confirmed by immunoperoxidase staining of the surgically‐removed tissues. Of the 51 patients, 39 proved to have ovarian cancer. The accuracy of diagnosis and detection of primary and metastatic malignant disease was 95% when correlating pre‐operative radioimmune scan findings and laparotomy findings. The procedure is minimally invasive, apparently without side‐effects and offers information for tumour detection as an adjunct or alternative to existing methods.

Radioimmunoscintigraphy of orbital metastases from ovarian carcinoma

Radioimmunoscintigraphy with I-123 labeled monoclonal antibody HMFG1 has been used for imaging primary and metastatic ovarian neoplasms. Uptake of I-123 labeled HMFG1 is reported in a patient with an orbital metastasis from a primary ovarian adenocarcinoma. Radioimmunoscintigraphy may have a role to play in imaging metastatic orbital neoplasms.

99mTc Labelling of Interleukin-2 for in Vivo Targeting of Activated T-Lymphocytes

We have recently reported that interleukin-2 (IL2) labelled with iodine-123 (1231) can be successfully used for the in vivo detection of areas of lymphocytic infiltration1. IL2 is a lymphocyte growth factor (M.W.:15.5kD) that binds to its specific receptor expressed on the surface membrane of activated T lymphocytes2. 1231 is a suitable isotope for in vivo studies and for protein labelling. However, it has some disadvantages such as the poor availability, the elevated cost and the low labelling efficiency.