title: Use of tumor receptors for diagnostic imaging. A review.
abstract: The article reviews briefly the binders which carry 'warheads' to tumors and bind with receptors. If the combination between binders and receptors is specific and tight, the warheads may accumulate only on/in the cells of the tumor but not in host tissues. The higher the specificity of the binder-receptor reactions, the higher is the therapeutic effect and the lower the side effects. The antibody is an effective binder, but only a fraction of the total activity administered stays in target cells (homing), usually less than 10 per cent. Another 90 per cent of the warheads are distributed in normal tissues or secreted outside the body. Very often injuries from irradiation or chemotherapy shorten the life span of the patients. Radioimmunoimaging does not yet yield better results than conventional imaging techniques, such as computed tomography, ultrasonography and angiography.
authors.affiliation: Tumor Laboratory, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000532:radiotherapy; D016719:Radioimmunodetection; D016499:Radioimmunotherapy; D051381:Rats; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins