Sequential immunoscintigrams were used to describe the relative distribution and kinetics of 8 mg 131I-labeled human IgM monoclonal antibody 16.88 in 20 patients with colorectal cancer. The results show that the initial activity was higher and the clearance rate was faster (P < 0.05) from the left ventricle and liver than from most organs. In bone marrow the reverse was observed (P < 0.05). The biological half-life of 131I(-16.88) in tumor tissue (range 35.4-47.5 h) was longer (P < 0.01) than that in normal tissue (30.2-41.9 h). The image contrast ratio between liver metastases and background increased from 0.8 to 1.3 and for lesions outside the liver from 1.1 to 1.6. The estimated effective dose equivalent was 0.12 mSv/MBq. A second infusion 2 weeks after the first with the addition of unlabeled 16.88 up to 1000 mg for improvement of tumor tissue uptake was not of clinical relevance.