Antibody guided lymphangiography in the staging of cervical cancer

Iodine-123-labelled tumour associated monoclonal antibody HMFG2 was administered intralymphatically at a time that cannulation of pedal lymphatic vessels was performed for standard lymphangiography in 6 patients with cervical cancer. Gamma camera images were taken at 2 h and 24 h after injection of antibody and at a similar time that X-ray lymphangiography was performed. Five out of the 6 standard lymphangiograms were reported as normal whilst one showed definite evidence of metastasis. Antibody guided analysis of the abnormal lymphangiogram confirmed the presence of abnormality. Also, marked non-specific uptake of antibody was seen on all lymphangiograms. It is concluded that, in order for monoclonal antibody guided lymphangiography to become a useful adjunct to standard lymphangiography, further improvements are needed to reduce non-specific uptake by normal lymphatics.