Studies of 57-co-bleomycin in patients with carcinoma colli uteri (author's transl)

The kinetics of 57Co-Bleomycin was studied in twelve patients with histologically proven carcinoma colli uteri and in ten patients with benign gynaecological conditions. Measurements were carried out on the whole body, on parts of the body and on urine and blood using a whole body counter. Excretion of the tumour-seeking radio-pharmaceutical is predominantly through the kidneys and can be described by a double compartment model. After 48 hours, 2-4% of the applied activity is still present in the body. Radiation exposure to the body, the kidneys and bladder was calculated from the measurements and MIRD tables as 0.02 rad/mci (total body), 0.4 rad/mCi (kidneys) and 0.2 rad/mCi (bladder). In view of the rapid elimination of 57Co-Bleomycin, these figures are lower than data data quoted in the literature. There was no evidence of significantly higher uptake of 57Co-Bleomycin in the carcinomatous epithelium of the collum uteri compared with benign diseases, using the total body counter in the scan node. As possible explanations for this, the authors suggest inadequate geometric resolution of the system and a low tumour/non-tumour distribution ratio.