Positron Emission Tomography of Monoclonal Antibodies

Abstract

A review on the use of monoclonal antibodies labeled with positron emitting nuclides is presented. Potential radionuclides for labeling are e.g. ¹⁸F, ⁵⁵C0, ⁶⁴Cu, ⁶⁶Ga, ⁶⁸Ga, ⁷⁶Br, ⁸⁹Zr and ¹²⁴I. Radionuclides with short half-lives may be utilized especially by pretargeting approaches. Gallium-isotopes have also been coupled to antibodies, using chelation methods. One promising nuclide for antibody labeling seems to be ¹²⁴I (t_1/2 = 4.2 d) as radioiodination of antibodies is a well-characterized procedure. Some of our own studies using ¹²⁴I labeled monoclonal antibodies in a nude mouse and rat human ovarian cancer xenograft are reported.