Tumor-specific anti-idiotype (anti-Id) monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) to B-cell lymphomas have been administered to patients, resulting in significant clinical responses. However, clinical responses have been limited by the emergence of Id-negative lymphoma. To overcome the problem of tumor heterogeneity, we conducted a pilot evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of yttrium 90 (90Y)-labeled anti-Id and shared Id (sId) MoAbs in non-Hodgkin's B-cell lymphoma. Nine patients with relapsed B-cell lymphoma in whom tumor was successfully targeted with 111In-labeled anti-Id MoAb were treated with 90Y-labeled anti-Id MoAb. A total of 19 courses (one to four per patient) were administered using 1,000 to 2,320 mg unlabeled clearing MoAb and 10 to 54 mCi 90Y MoAb per patient. Two of nine patients had a complete response, one a partial response, three stable disease, and three disease progression. Time to progression varied from 1 to 12 months. Toxicities were predominately hematologic, and only one patient developed infection and required transfusion. At progression, three of five assessable patients had Id- positive lymphoma and two had Id-negative lymphoma. Human antimouse antibodies (HAMA) did not develop in the patients after treatment. 90Y anti-Id MoAbs demonstrated excellent in vivo stability, produced significantly tumor regression in three of nine patients, exhibited acceptable toxicities, and elicited no HAMA formation. Further investigation of repetitive, low-dose 90Y anti-Id and MoAb therapy is warranted; however, the advantages of a pan B MoAb may prove the latter to be the agent of choice for the radio immunotherapy of B-cell lymphoma.

High background activity produces imaging problems when scanning with antibodies. The following work is directed towards reducing this background. The murine monoclonal antibody (MAb) CHA-255 selectively binds 111In-nitrobenzyl EDTA, a molecule referred to as a 'hapten'. Balb/c mice studies indicate that if the antibody is administered prior to the hapten, it predictably modifies the biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of the hapten. The pharmacokinetics for the hapten were proportional to antibody dose and inversely proportional to the time interval between injection of the antibody and the hapten. A hybrid MAb was produced by the enzymatic digestion of CHA-255 and ZCE-025, an anti-carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) MAb, followed by joining of the two via a thioether linkage. The result was a F(ab')2 with affinity for both CEA and the hapten. The pharmacokinetics of the hapten were again dependent upon the kinetics and distribution of the hybrid antibody. Data in tumour models are also presented for 111In-nitrobenzyl EDTA and 111In-thioureabenzyl EDTA (TUBE), a newer hapten. The data indicate that the antibody-hapten system is capable of targetting tumour quickly while normal tissue rapidly becomes depleted of radioactivity. We conclude that the hapten-antibody technique shows some advantages over directly labelled MAb as a targetting system.

We examined the human anti-mouse antibody (HAMA) response in 61 cancer patients following a single, diagnostic injection of any one of ten 111In conjugated murine monoclonal antibodies. Between 1 and 22 mg of antibody containing 1-5 mCi 111In was administered. The populations studied included 30 patients with colorectal carcinoma (four different antibodies), 22 with malignant melanoma (four antibodies), and nine with prostate cancer (two antibodies). Forty-one percent of the patients developed HAMA within 14 days. Three patients (5%) developed an IgM response, five patients (8%) developed an IgG response, and 17 patients (28%) developed both IgM and IgG. Only 27% of the patients with colon cancer developed HAMA, compared to 55% of the melanoma patients and 56% of the prostate cancer patients. There were no correlations among injected dose, various clinical parameters, and HAMA response. There were variations in the HAMA response to different monoclonal antibodies, but population samples were too small to infer significance. Most of the HAMA responses had a significant proportion of idiotypic or isotypic specificity. Only 1/6 patients who were HAMA negative after the first infusion developed HAMA following subsequent infusions of the same monoclonal antibody. Our data demonstrate that a significant percent of cancer patients develop HAMA following a single, low-dose injection of a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody for diagnostic purposes. This may have important implications for the future therapeutic use of monoclonal antibodies in such patients.

A program was developed to extract from brain SPECT data global as well as regional concentrations of a radiopharmaceutical while allowing for improved subjective evaluation of its distribution. This program was used to process the data obtained from 17 normal subjects, 20 min, 2 hr, and 4 hr after the injection of iodine-labeled iodoamphetamines. The mean absolute cortical uptake at these three time periods was 0.921 (+/- 0.185), 0.803 (+/- 0.107), and 0.748 (+/- 0.103) in arbitrary units (+/- s.d.), respectively. The regional distribution of the tracer became more uniform with time due to an uneven washout rate. The cerebellum was noted to have a very high variability in its uptake and a high washout rate, making it unsuitable as an internal standard for relative quantification. Finally, a repeat study was performed on 10 subjects. No significant difference could be demonstrated in the mean uptake of the group at 2 and 4 hr, however the difference observed in the 20 min uptake values was significant at the p = 0.05 level.

Detection of specific tumor sites was studied with scintigraphy and radiolabeled human IgM monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs). Ten patients with metastatic breast cancer received an infusion of one of three indium-111-labeled anti-breast carcinoma MoAbs. The time of infusion ranged from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Three patients received YBB-190 at total doses of 2, 4.25, or 11 mg, four patients received YBM-209 at total doses of 1 mg (n = 1) or 20 mg (n = 3), and three patients each received 22 mg of YBY-088. Imaging was performed immediately after infusion and at 4, 24, 48, 72, 120, and 144 hours. Many presumed sites of metastatic disease were imaged in three of the four patients who received 20 mg of YBM-209 and in two of the three patients who received YBY-088. Tumor was not detected in any of the patients who received YBB-190, in the patient who received a 1-mg dose of YBM-209, or in the patient who received YBY-088 and in whom a biopsy of tumor tissue failed to demonstrate target antigen. The authors conclude that In-111-labeled human IgM MoAbs can target human breast cancer, but antigen expression and antibody dose determine successful immunoscintigraphy.

The most urgent diagnosis addressed by cholescintigraphy is acute cholecystitis. By administering lowdose intravenous morphine sulfate to patients undergoing cholescintigraphy (who demonstrate visualization of both the common bile duct and intestine and nonvisualization of the gallbladder), the time required to complete the study has been reduced to a maximum of 90 minutes. One hundred twenty-eight patients underwent cholescintigraphy for clinically suspected acute cholecystitis. Forty patients received intravenous morphine sulfate during the procedure. In patients who received morphine sulfate during the examination, the sensitivity of cholescintigraphy for the diagnosis of acute cholecystitis was 100%; the specificity was 85%.

The distribution and kinetics of six human and one murine monoclonal IgM antibodies (MoAb) were studied in BALB/c mice. Labeling was with 111In, 75Se, and 125I. The monomers and pentamers of certain MoAbs were studied. Human distribution studies were also performed. The serum containing [111In]MoAb was obtained from one of the patients 24 hr after administration and injected into mice which were then killed and assayed for 111In distribution. In general, the [75Se] and [111In]MoAbs had distribution and kinetic patterns that were similar while the 125I-labeled MoAbs dehalogenated after 4 hr. Monomers and pentamers had highly similar distributions suggesting that the distribution of IgMs may be based on factors other than molecular size. The murine IgM showed a somewhat different distribution in mice than did human IgMs. Serum from the patient containing [111In]MoAb had a distribution in mice similar to that of the patient with high liver and gastrointestinal uptake. The human imaging indicates that it is possible to target tumor with human IgM MoAbs, but significant problems remain in regard to their clinical use.

It is the opinion of the authors that the molecule of the future for radioimmunodetection (and hopefully radioimmunotherapy and delivery of drugs) will have the following characteristics: It will be an altered fragment, rather than an intact molecule or fragment. It will be small, perhaps 60,000 molecular weight, yet remain in the vascular compartment for a comparatively long period of time, then be eliminated via the kidney. It will be of human origin or a murine molecule altered to mask its immunogenic properties. It will be 111In- or 99mTc-labeled or bifunctionally chelated to another metal ion. It will target a cell surface antigen, but one that does not circulate. It will be used in combination with derivatives of other MoAbs that target other antigens on the cell. It would be a hapten-type device that follows the administration of a "bifunctional MoAb." Whatever the final molecule, it will be administered to a patient who has been "prepped" with an antigen-enhancing substance or one that "unmasks" a gene and allows a repressed marker to be expressed by the tumor cell to which the MoAb was developed. It may be a MoAb that attaches to a white cell, which then chemotactically seeks the tumor that has been previously induced to produce a substance that the white cell recognizes.

We report results of 24-h continuous infusions of murine monoclonal antibody T101 in six patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and 10 with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), at doses of 10, 50, 100, or 500 mg. Similar side-effects were seen in CLL and CTCL, including direct toxic effects of therapy, such as fever, sweats, and chilling, and a 30% frequency of allergic manifestations. In vivo binding of T101 to target cells in blood, skin, lymph nodes, tumor masses, and bone marrow was demonstrated. Antigenic modulation occurred rapidly in all cases, and persisted throughout the infusion period. Peak serum T101 levels for equivalent doses were somewhat higher, and persisted longer in CTCL, perhaps because of differences in the number of circulating target cells. Antimouse antibodies were demonstrated in 5 of 10 CTCL vs. 0 of 6 CLL patients. In all five cases, there was a substantial component of T101 specificity in the antimouse response. Brief objective clinical responses were observed in 4 of 10 CTCL and 2 of 6 CLL patients. Acute anti-tumor effects of T101 were substantially more dramatic in CTCL than CLL, but appeared limited by antigenic modulation and the emergence of antimouse antibodies. In view of the in vivo binding and modulation, more durable anti-tumor effects may be achievable with cytotoxic immunoconjugates of this monoclonal antibody.

Radiolabeling of antibodies with In-111 has now been accomplished to the point that it is highly reproducible, achieves excellent labeling efficiency, and does not damage the antibody. Use of In-111 for radioimmunodetection is advantageous because of the excellent imaging characteristics of the In-111, moderate radiation dose, ease of labeling, and appropriate half-life. The liabilities of the In-111 method include slightly greater cost of the radionuclide, slow clearance of background sites, and a shelf life requiring it to be ordered on a weekly basis. When all characteristics of the radionuclide are taken into account, it appears to be superior to I-131 for radioimmunoimaging. A controlled study using iodinated and Indium labeled antibodies in the same group of patients needs to be done to accurately access how well the two function for tumor detection.

Toxicity was assessed during and following 186 infusions of various murine monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) in 82 patients afflicted with 10 different malignancies. Doses ranged from 0.5 to 500 mg per infusion and were administered over 0.25-24 h. Reactions of varying degrees were noted in 27 patients (33%) during or following 57 (31%) infusions. For antibodies that reacted with circulating cells, toxicity was seen in 20/82 of the first infusions compared with 0/55 for patients receiving antibodies that did not react with circulating cells. A 25% decrease in white blood cells (WBC) was associated with side effects in 40/66 courses whereas only 9/81 courses were associated with any sort of toxicity when the WBC decreased by less than 25%. Fevers, rigors, chills, and diaphoresis were observed in 21-23% of patients, but only in association with removal of circulating cells that bound the antibody. Presumed hypersensitivity reactions, including urticaria, pruritus, bronchospasm, and anaphylaxis occurred in 15 patients (18%). The two episodes of bronchospasm and single episode of anaphylaxis occurred in patients treated more than once, at least 2 weeks after a previous treatment. There was no clear relationship between dose or rate of infusion and toxicity for these antibodies. We conclude that murine MoAbs can be given with an acceptable frequency of serious allergic reactions and that the biologic effects of specific antibody-antigen reactions may be a more significant source of toxicity for such antibodies.

Studies were performed to determine the effect of tumor size on the incorporation of radiolabeled monoclonal antitumor antibodies (MoAbs) into human tumors growing in nude mice. The colon tumors ranged in size from 0.03-1.6 g, the melanoma from 0.1 to 6.7 g, and the lymphoma from 0.06 to 10.2 g. Indium-111 was primarily used as the radiolabel, however, both 125I and 111In were used as tracers for the MoAb in one experiment. The per g radiopharmaceutical uptake by tumors was inversely proportional to tumor size when tumor specific MoAb was administered. This finding was independent of the radiolabel and was demonstrable when the mice bore two tumors of differing size. When the MoAb was not specific for the tumor, the data were less well defined and a statistically significant correlation with size did not occur. These data are strong evidence for a decrease in per g uptake of labeled tumor specific antibodies as tumors increase in size.