Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) uses an antibody labeled with a radionuclide to deliver cytotoxic radiation to a target cell.[1] It is a form of unsealed source radiotherapy. In cancer therapy, an antibody with specificity for a tumor-associated antigen is used to deliver a lethal dose of radiation to the tumor cells. The ability for the antibody to specifically bind to a tumor-associated antigen increases the dose delivered to the tumor cells while decreasing the dose to normal tissues. By its nature, RIT requires a tumor cell to express an antigen that is unique to the neoplasm or is not accessible in normal cells.
131I tositumomab and 90Y ibritumomab tiuxetan were the first agents of radioimmunotherapy, and they were approved for the treatment of refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This means they are used in patients whose lymphoma is refractory to conventional chemotherapy and the monoclonal antibody rituximab.
Components of the extracellular matrix and the tumor microenvironment can also be targeted by radioimmunotherapy, such as Netrin-1 [21] (an axon guidance protein) and FAP (a marker for cancer associated fibroblasts).[22]
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^Burke JM, Jurcic JG. Radioimmunotherapy of leukemia. Adv Pharmacol. 2004;51:185-208.
^Quang TS, Brady LW. Radioimmunotherapy as a novel treatment regimen: 125I-labeled monoclonal antibody 425 in the treatment of high-grade brain gliomas. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2004 Mar 1;58(3):972-5.
^Wong JY, Shibata S, Williams LE, Kwok CS, Liu A, Chu DZ, Yamauchi DM, Wilczynski S, Ikle DN, Wu AM, Yazaki PJ, Shively JE, Doroshow JH, Raubitschek AA. A Phase I trial of 90Y-anti-carcinoembryonic antigen chimeric T84.66 radioimmunotherapy with 5-fluorouracil in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2003 Dec 1;9(16 Pt 1):5842-52
^Kryza D, Wischhusen J, Richaud M, Hervieu M, Sidi Boumedine J, Delcros JG, Besse S, Baudier T, Laval PA, Breusa S, Boutault E, Clermidy H, Rama N, Ducarouge B, Devouassoux-Shisheboran M, Chezal JM, Giraudet AL, Walter T, Mehlen P, Sarrut D, Gibert B.From netrin-1-targeted SPECT/CT to internal radiotherapy for management of advanced solid tumors. EMBO Mol Med. 2023 Apr 11;15(4):e16732. doi: 10.15252/emmm.202216732. Epub 2023 Mar 6. PMID: 36876343
^Marko Magdi Abdou Sidrak, Maria Silvia De Feo, Ferdinando Corica, Joana Gorica, Miriam Conte, Luca Filippi, Orazio Schillaci, Giuseppe De Vincentis, and Viviana Frantellizzi1,Fibroblast Activation Protein Inhibitor (FAPI)-Based Theranostics—Where We Are at and Where We Are Heading: A Systematic Review Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Feb; 24(4): 3863. Published online 2023 Feb 15. doi: 10.3390/ijms24043863