The curative and palliative potential of the monoclonal antibody MOv18 labelled with 211At in nude mice with intraperitoneally growing ovarian cancer xenografts--a long-term study.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of 211At-labelled specific monoclonal antibody MOv18 in nude mice with intraperitoneal growth of the human ovarian cancer cell line OVCAR3. In the first part of the study the antibody was injected intraperitoneally when the cancer growth was microscopic. The injected activity was 485-555 kBq. The median survival for treated mice was 213 days compared to 138 days for untreated mice (p < 0.014, log-rank test). No obvious toxicity was seen. Thirty-three percent of the mice were apparently free of cancer after 7 months and were probably cured. In the second part of the study mice with macroscopic cancer and signs of ascites were injected intraperitoneally with the same 211At-labelled antibody (377-389 kBq). This treatment possibly delayed the production of ascites. Hopefully radioimmunotherapy with regionally administered 211At-labelled antibody will be of value in women with ovarian cancer as well.