Radioimaging of the prostate and metastases of prostatic carcinoma with 99mTc-labelled prostatic acid phosphatase-specific antibodies and their Fab fragments.

A radioimmunodetection technique using 99mTc-labelled polyclonal antibodies raised in rabbits against human prostate-specific acid phosphatase was used to detect metastases of prostatic carcinoma. All the metastases observed by X-rays or bone scintigraphy in the four patients with M1-disease were revealed by the novel technique employed. In addition, in one of the patients studied, a distinct incorporation of radioactivity was also observed in the left inferior scapular region, which was not seen by conventional bone scanning, but was later confirmed by X-ray studies to be a metastatic process.