Limits of sensitivity for the radioimmunodetection of colon cancer by means of a hand held gamma probe.

This study was undertaken to define the limits for the radioimmunodetection of minimal deposits of colorectal cancer cells using a hand held gamma probe. 125I labeled monoclonal antibody 17-1A and its F(ab')2 fragments were reacted in vitro with cells of the human colorectal cancer line SW 1116. The limits of sensitivity of the probe were determined by injecting doubling dilutions of 125I-antibody coated SW 1116 cells ranging from 10(7) to 3.9 x 10(4) subserosally at 2 cm intervals into 60 cm segments of freshly obtained autopsy or surgical specimens of human colon. A linear relationship was observed between the number of cells injected and the number of counts obtained with either the probe or well counter. As few as 6.25 x 10(5) 125I-antibody coated cells (less than 1 mm3) were detected under experimentally defined conditions by an earlier version of the probe, and 3.9 x 10(4) coated cells (much less than 1 mm3) could be detected by the currently available model. Although the count rates were less than 5% of those obtained by well counter, nevertheless, these were 10-25 times greater than background and allowed the detection of tumor cell deposits that otherwise would not have been discernible by either palpation or external scintigraphy. These findings, in conjunction with ongoing clinical studies, suggest that the hand held gamma probe may increase the usefulness of monoclonal antibodies for the radioimmunodetection of cancer.