Monoclonal antibodies for successful tumour imaging

The monoclonal antibody HMFG-2 which is directed to an oligosaccharide determinant on a large molecular weight mucin-like molecule found in the human milk fat globule reacts positively with breast and ovarian carcinomas. The purified antibody, labelled with 123I has been used successfully to locate ovarian tumours and their metastases in 20 out of 22 patients tested. Here we discuss those features of a) the antibody, b) the antigenic site it reacts with, c) the radioactive label and d) the scanning technique, which have contributed to the successful application of HMFG-2 to the effective imaging of ovarian tumours.