Nuclear medicine perspective on radioimmunotherap
S. Fanti, G. Montini, M. Farsad
Medicina Nucleare Policlinico S.Orsola-Malpighi, Bologna, Italy
Radioimmunotherapy is a new type of therapy that targets radiation to the tumor using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). The use of radiolabeled MAbs as a potential cancer treatment was first explored in the ‘50s. Only in the ‘70s, however, technological advancements allowed for the design and production of monoclonal antibodies directed against specific cellular antigens. The feasibility of combining a monoclonal antibodies directed against specific tumor-associated antigens with a radioisotope in order to deliver a therapeutic dose of radiation to a tumor cell has been studied since the early ‘80s.