Monoclonal antitumour antibodies for tumour detection and therapy.

The potential of anti-tumour monoclonal antibodies for tumour detection and therapy are considered. Immunoscintigraphy of patients following injection of monoclonal antibodies labelled with gamma-emitting radionuclides has been successfully used to detect a range of human cancers including carcinomas of colon, breast and ovary and osteogenic sarcomas. This application of monoclonal antibodies is considered with respect to the design of imaging procedures and the clinical usefulness of the techniques. Another potentially useful application of anti-tumour monoclonal antibodies is for targeting therapeutic agents. This approach is considered particularly with respect to the use of antibodies for targeting cytotoxic drugs.