Objective: To establish a method for localization and qualitative diagnosis of glioma.
Methods: The monoclonal antibody SZ-39 against human glioma was labelled with 131I and injected intravenously into 40 patients with intracranial occupying lesions proved by X-CT. 72 hours after 131I-McAb-SZ39 administration, cranial bone nuclide-imaging agent 99mTc-MDP was injected intravenously, and the patients were examined by SPECT scan with dual nuclide double channel tomography and special software. On radio-immuno-image, the immunocomplex formed by specific conjugation of 131I-McAb-SZ39 with target tissue was red, while the cranial bone incorporated with 99mTc-MDP was green. The location of the immunocomplex area could be identified by the superimposition of the images.
Results: 21 patients with positive targeting diagnosis of glioma showed the accuracy rate checked by SPECT was 81%(17/21) and by X-CT 48% (10/21). Seven patients with negative targeting diagnosis showed the accuracy rate checked by SPECT was 86%(6/7) and by X-CT 14% (1/7). Pathologically, the sensitivity of targeting SPECT to glioma was 94.5%(17/18) and that of X-CT 55%(10/18).
Conclusions: Targeting SPECT examination could be used for localization and qualitative diagnosis of glioma and make up the inadequacy of X-CT in the qualitative diagnosis of atypical incipient and recurrent glioma, meningioma, metastatic carcinoma, and inflammatory lesions of brain.