57-cobalt-bleomycin as a tumor scanning agent in primary hepatocellular cancer

57Co-bleomycin and 99mTc-sulfur colloid scans were performed in 13 southern African black patients with primary hepatocellular cancer (PHC) and 3 patients with other space-occupying hepatic lesions. Selective concentration of 57Co-bleomycin in the defect or defects seen on the 99mTc-sulfur colloid scan occurred in only 4 of the 13 (31%) patients with PHC. In the remaining PHC patients, as well as in the 2 patients with metastatic liver disease and the 1 patient with an amebic liver abscess, the 57 Co-bleomycin and 99mTc-sulfur colloid scans were identical. 57Co-bleomycin appears to have only a limited place as a tumor-seeking agent in the diagnosis of PHC in southern African blacks.