Radioimmunoscintigraphy in Patients with Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

The use of radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) has significantly improved the ability to detect tumor antigens, thus improving in vivo tumor diagnosis and treatment. The management of ovarian carcinoma still poses a challenging medical problem. Clinical trials using radioimmunoscintigraphy or a hand-held gamma detection probe intraoperatively were performed in patients with clinical evidence of primary or recurrent ovarian cancer. Immunoscintigraphy of ovarian cancer lesions has been performed mainly with 99mTc, 111In and 123I labeled with HMFG1, HMFG2, OC-125, B72.3, H17E2, OVTL3, MoAb170, Mov18 and other MoAbs. Antibody guided imaging using radioimmunoscintigraphy has demonstrated improved targeting of ovarian cancer, resulting in a highly sensitive and specific method. However, it is not yet known which type of MoAb is the most efficient for radioimmunoscintigraphy. Since these tumors represent a potentially curable disease, radioimmunoscintigraphy could contribute mainly to accurate staging as a supplementary to conventional diagnostic methods, as well as for the localization of active disease after chemotherapy and monitoring for the presence of recurrent disease. Nevertheless, prospective studies in a large number of patients should be undertaken in order to further evaluate the diagnostic contribution of this approach.

MUC16 as a novel target for cancer therapy

“…No significant therapeutic benefit was observed in any of these patients [122]. However, administration of radiolabeled OC125 (F(ab) 2 fragments exhibited high sensitivity in detecting lesions but with low specificities, since non-ovarian cancer conditions also led to accumulation of the radiotracer [123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128]. In another study, a direct comparison was made between OC125 radioimmunoscintigraphy and CT scans to detect primary tumors and metastasis in patients after chemotherapy and just before second surgery [119].…”

Targeted drug delivery via folate receptors in recurrent ovarian cancer: a review

“…Studying the distribution of specific mouse monoclonal antibodies named MOv18 and MOv19 in normal and malignant tissues, it was possible to reconstruct the tissue distribution of FR 29. Clinical studies on radioimmunoscintigraphy using 131 I-MOv18 were carried out in ovarian cancer patients and showed some efficacy 30. MOv19/interleukin-2 fusion protein was evaluated as an immunotherapy agent against a preclinical model of an FR+ murine tumor and was shown to be effective 31…”