Accumulation characteristics of human colon carcinomas after monoclonal antibody ex vivo perfusion.

Human colon carcinomas were operatively resected and the tumour-bearing segments interposed into an oxygenised ex vivo perfusion system. Pressure, flow, temperature, pH and metabolic parameters were controlled. Over a period of 45 min the 131I-labelled monoclonal antibody AUA1 was administered and its distribution in the tumour tissue analysed scintigraphically. The accumulated activity was determined in different tissues. The results showed that the AUA1 uptake increased with the degree of histological tumour differentiation. The main tumour:non-tumour ratio reached 0.8 in poorly, 4.1 in moderately and 5.9 in highly differentiated adenocarcinomas. Introducing the oxygenised erythrocyte-enriched perfusion media significantly increased the viability of the colon tissue. The ex vivo perfusion system will help to analyse factors determining monoclonal antibody accumulation in human colon carcinomas.