ROLE OF RADIOIMMUNOSCINTIGRAPHY AND SPET IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF PATIENTSWITH MALIGNANT-MELANOMA

The aim of the study was to compare the effectiveness of radioimmunosc intigraphy and single photon emission tomography in the diagnosis of m alignant melanoma. Radioimmunoscintigraphy was carried out on 47 patie nts with stage I to IV malignant melanoma. Seven patients had primary melanoma; the remaining patients had 57 clinically suspected lesions. Tc-99m-F(ab)2 was injected intravenously or subcutaneously. Imaging wa s site and size dependent with the highest sensitivity in the lymph no des (96%). Sensitivity was lowest in cutaneous and subcutaneous lesion s using planar scintigraphy (20.5%) although it was higher using singl e photon emission tomography (42.8%). It is concluded that the advanta ges of radioimmunoscintigraphy over other methods of investigation are its specificity and selectivity. It therefore has potential as a diag nostic tool concerning the status of melanoma patients.