Immunoscintigraphy in intraocular malignant melanoma.

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Medicine
• Oncology
• Immunology

Background:

• Early diagnosis of small lesions is crucial for effective cancer therapy.
• Immunoscintigraphy is an emerging tool in nuclear medicine for detecting malignant tumors.
• Ocular tumors, particularly malignant choroidal melanoma, require precise diagnostic methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the scintigraphic detectability of small ocular tumors using immunoscintigraphy.
• To assess the efficacy of 99Tcm-labelled F(ab")2 fragments of anti-melanoma monoclonal antibody 225.28S in detecting lesions less than 1 cm.
• To compare the diagnostic performance of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) versus planar scans for ocular tumors.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 99Tcm-labelled F(ab")2 fragments of the anti-melanoma monoclonal antibody 225.28S.
• Administered the antibody to 39 patients with ocular tumors (37 malignant choroidal melanoma, 2 benign choroidal naevi).
• Employed both planar imaging and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for scintigraphy.

Main Results:

• Immunoscintigraphy successfully detected small lesions (less than 1 cm) in patients with ocular tumors.
• Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) demonstrated a higher true-positive rate (73%) compared to planar scans (41%).
• No adverse effects were reported during the immunoscintigraphy procedure.

Conclusions:

• Immunoscintigraphy with 99Tcm-labelled F(ab")2 fragments of monoclonal antibody 225.28S is a safe and effective method for detecting small ocular tumors.
• SPECT imaging offers superior diagnostic accuracy over planar scans for evaluating these lesions.
• This technique holds promise for early diagnosis and improved management of ocular malignancies.