NEW METHODS FOR THE STAGING OF COLORECTAL-CANCER USING NONINVASIVE TECHNIQUES

Noninvasive differentiation of benign from malignant disease has emerg ed as an important diagnostic challenge in this age of health-care cos t containment. Most physicians today acknowledge that early and accura te detection of cancer is the key to successful treatment. Antibodies have been developed and used to detect and treat tumors. In the next f ew years, several radiolabeled antibodies will likely receive FDA appr oval for imaging colorectal, lung, and prostate carcinomas, thus expan ding and improving the physician's ability to detect and follow cancer in patients. There is ample evidence in the literature that suggests that imaging with labeled antibodies is clinically useful for detectin g colorectal cancer in patients with suspected recurrence, in patients with presumed isolated resectable liver metastasis, and in those at h igh risk of the development of recurrence. This paper reviews these st udies, and also discusses some data obtained from positron emission to mography (PET) imaging in colorectal patients. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, In c.