The implications of patient antibody response for the clinical usefulness of immunoscintigraphy.

The evolving clinical role for tumour immunoscintigraphy appears to be in monitoring patients for metastatic spread and tumour recurrence. Such diagnostic strategies inevitably involve repeat imaging investigations, and therefore the probability of patient immunization against the administered radiopharmaceutical is increased. Patient antibody responses would appear to affect the quality and sensitivity of repeat imaging studies, and this also has implications for the therapeutic efficacy of subsequent therapy doses. A simple test for determining patient sensitization to antibody is required.