Initial results of immunolymphoscintigraphy in the diagnosis of axillary lymph node involvement in breast cancer patients

Sixteen patients suffering from breast cancer were investigated by the method of immunolymphoscintigraphy (ILS) to evaluate the axillary lymph node status. Two monoclonal tumour associated antibodies (HMFG-1 and HMFG-2) that are known to react strongly with a wide range of epithelial malignomas were used as tumour seeking agents in our recent study. All patients were operated a few days after the scanning procedure including a radical axillary lymph node dissection. Therefore the scan reports could be correlated in each case with the histology of the surgically removed probes. While HMFG-1 failed to show correct results, HMFG-2 gave accurate results in 9 of 13 cases of questionable lymph node involvement. Among the 4 false results, one turned out to be false positive and three false negative. If better antibodies or their fragments, respectively, are used, we are convinced this noninvasive approach will greatly improve preoperative diagnosis of lymphatic involvement in breast cancer patients.