Direct dose confirmation of quantitative autoradiography with micro-TLD measurements for radioimmunotherapy

Autoradiography has shown marked heterogeneous distribution of radioactivity in all ten radiolabeled monoclonal antibody/tumor combinations evaluated by our laboratories for radioimmunotherapy (RIT) in mice. Quantitative autoradiography was performed on two of these combinations (131I-B72.3/colorectal carcinoma and 131I-LYM-1/Raji B-cell lymphoma) to obtain a correlation of film density with radiolabeled antibody distribution. Through the use of sectioned mini-thermoluminescent dosimeter(s) (TLD) or micro-TLD, isodose curves were generated from the film gradient density lines. A computer program was written to compare theoretical absorbed dose calculations to measured micro-TLD values. First-order agreement was reached for both antibody/tumor systems: (a) B72.3/colorectal system--810 cGy measured/824 cGy calculated per 200 microCi injected and (b) LYM-1/lymphoma system--1,740 cGy measured/1,580 cGy calculated per 656 microCi injected (1 cGy = 1 rad). Additionally, the measured absorbed dose heterogeneity over a 500-micron length of up to 400% which suggests that the use of quantitative autoradiography is necessary in order to correctly determine the underlying radiobiological effects of RIT. Theoretical computer modeling based on similar autoradiographic activity distributions has also provided a convenient means of assessing absorbed dose variation patterns from other radiolabels such as 90Y.