Dose Escalation Study With 99mTC - or 186 Re-labelled Humanised Monoclonal Antibody (hMAb) BIWA 4 in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer

Inclusion criteria

• Patients with histological confirmation of squamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck
• Patients destined for surgery by means of neck dissection (Part A) or :
• Patients with either local and/or regional recurrent disease for which curative treatment options were not available or distant metastases. The tumor deposits had to be measurable either clinically or by one or more radiological technique (s) (CT, MRI, bone scintigraphy). Because RIT was expected to be more effective in smaller size tumor deposits, patients with lesions measuring > 3 cm in greatest dimension were preferred (Part B)
• Patients over 18 years of age
• Patients younger than 80 years of age
• Patients who had given 'written informed consent'
• Patients with a life expectancy of at least 3 months
• Patients with a good performance status: Karnofsky > 60

Exclusion criteria

• Life-threatening infection, allergic diathesis, organ failure (bilirubin > 30µmol/l and/or creatinine > 150 µmol/l) or evidence of a recent myocardial infarction on ECG or unstable angina pectoris
• Pre-menopausal women (last menstruation <= 1 year prior to study start)

• Not surgically sterile (hysterectomy, tubal ligation) and
• Not practicing acceptable means of birth control, (nor not planned to be continued throughout the study). Acceptable methods of birth control include oral, implantable or injectable contraceptives
• Women with a positive serum pregnancy test at baseline
• Chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks before inclusion in the study
• White blood cell count < 3000/mm³, granulocyte count < 1500/mm³ or platelet count < 100000/mm³
• Hematological disorders, congestive heart failure, bronchial asthma, alimentary or contact allergy, severe atopy or allergy