Clinical studies with In-111 BLEDTA, a tumor-imaging conjugate of bleomycin with a bifunctional chelating agent.

Indium-111 BLEDTA, a bleomycin analog containing an EDTA group, was used for tumor imaging in 110 patients with cancer. Scans with In-111 BLEDTA agreed with biopsy results in 75 of 95 patients (79% accuracy). A positive scan was obtained in 71 of 88 patients with a positive biopsy (81% sensitivity). In 21 of 95 patients (22%), the scan revealed tumor sites that had not been detected. The main limitation of visualization was the size of the tumor (1.5--2.0 cm diameter was the smallest size seen). Background radioactivity in the liver, spleen, and bone marrow also made tumor detection in these areas more difficult. The cause of this background, and of false-positive uptake in sites of inflammation, is correlated with specific radiolabeling of polymorphonuclear leukocytes by In-111 BLEDTA. Means of eliminating this background are discussed.