Radiolabelled monoclonal antibodies: a new diagnostic tool in nuclear medicine

This review describes the state of the art for scintigraphic tumour detection using radiolabelled very pure (monoclonal) antibodies. In vivo imaging by scintigraphy may be useful for visualisation of cancer sites and treatment monitoring in oncologic patients. Imaging includes the computer-assisted processing of the scintigrams to remove background and non-target radioactivity. The clinical use of this method ("radioimmunoscintigraphy") depends, however, on the availability of the desired antibodies. Developments in the field of antibody labelling and emission tomography in the upcoming years are crucial for the usefulness of radioimmunoscintigraphy in daily practice.