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[en] The conservative surgery with axillary dissection and additional radiotherapy represents the treatment of choice for patients with early breast cancer. A standard course of whole-breast external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT) followed by a boost to the tumour bed generally require 5/7 week to complete. This can represent a logistical problem for many patients, particularly the elderly and those who reside a considerable distance from a radiation treatment facility. As alternative to the traditional treatment of radiotherapy, the intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) has been recently proposed. This technique, although valid, is limited by two major points: i) the availability of a dedicated intraopertive linear accelerator, ii) a restricted field of irradiation which limits the management of positive surgical margins. The experience developed in our Institute with the ROLL technique and the radionuclide therapy with the avidin-biotin pre-targeting system lead us to the development of a new approach named I.A.R.T. (Intraoperative Avidination for Radionuclide Therapy) capable to control recurrence as for EBRT and IORT. The I.A.R.T. procedure consists of a first step where the surgeon intraoperatively injects avidin directly into the tumour bed followed by a second step of an intravenous injection of ⁹⁰Y/ ¹⁷⁷Lu radiolabelled biotin, 1 day later. The avidin injection can be done with a syringe or with a dedicated spray-device (disposable and ready for intraoperative use) in the frame time while the surgeon is waiting for the sentinel node pathological analysis or after axillary clearance. Avidin percolate the tissue of the index quadrant as well as it is drained by locoregional lymph nodes. Due to its positive electric charge (pI 10.7) and the inflammatory reaction after surgery, avidin is retained at site of injection for several days and constitute a sort of new 'artificial receptor', only expressed in the breast area, able to homing radioactive biotin and deliver a dose as high as 50 Gy. The I.A.R.T. approach is simple, low cost and easy to perform and it might represent an alternative to IORT in early breast cancer patients. (author)

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[en] We compared the utility of four radiopharmaceuticals; ¹¹¹In-chloride, ⁶⁷Ga-citrate, ¹¹¹In labeled leukocytes (WBCs) and ^99mTc-MDP for assessing the inflammatory response in antigen induced arthritis in a rabbit model. A total of 20 rabbits, divided into four equal groups, were included in this study-Each group was studied twice with a single radiotracer: a baseline study and a follow-up study after induction of the arthritis. Knee to knee, knee to whole body, and knee to liver (except for the group studied with ^99mTc-MDP) ratios were generated. Knee to knee ratios showed no significant change from baseline to arthritis studies in any of the four groups. Significantly increased knee to total body ratios were seen in all of the groups, except for the group studied with ^99mTc-MDP. The greatest increase was seen in the group studied with ¹¹¹In-chloride. Significantly increased knee to liver ratios were observed in all three groups for which these ratios were generated and again the greatest increase was observed in the group studied with ¹¹¹In-chloride. Based on the higher uptake observed in this group, of the four radiotracers evaluated, ¹¹¹In-chloride is probably the most useful for monitoring the inflammatory response in antigen induced arthritis. The symmetry of the response suggests that it may also be useful in monitoring the response to therapy. (author)

No abstract available

[en] F(ab')₂ fragments of F023C5, an anti-CEA monoclonal antibody, were conjugated to diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) and converted into a ready to use reagent for instant ¹¹¹In-labelling. The resulting ¹¹¹In radiopharmaceutical was administered intravenously and tested for its ability to image (at 48-72 h after administration) 31 primary and 85 metastatic carcinoma lesions in 70 adenocarcinoma patients (26 gastrointestinal, 18 breast and 26 lung tumour patients) whose serum CEA was elevated in 43 cases and normal in the other 27. (author)

[en] Our phase I diagnostic study has shown the anti CEA MoAb FO23C5 to be highly associated with tumour antigens expressed by lung carcinoma and from this its role as a therapeutical tool looks promising. (Author)

[en] Published in summary form only