Novel radioimmunopharmaceuticals for cancer imaging and therapy.

As interest in targeted therapies for cancer increases, radionuclides stand out not only for their ability to be detected by external scintigraphy, but also for their therapeutic capacity. Radionuclides need to be directed to the invading cancer however, and in this context antibodies have been at the forefront of targeting radionuclides for more than 50 years. Antibodies have been dissected and reconstituted in many different forms to fit a multitude of functions. Whether directly coupled to a radionuclide or used in a pretargeting setting, radioimmunoconjugates are being reinvented to meet the many challenges facing cancer detection and therapy today and in the future.