Based on previous experiments in nude mice, showing that fluoresceinated monoclonal antibodies against carcinoembryonic antigen localized specifically in human carcinoma xenografts and could be detected by laser-induced fluorescence, we performed a feasibility study to determine whether this immunophotodiagnosis method could be applied in the clinic. Six patients, with known primary colorectal carcinoma, received an i.v. injection of 4.5 or 9 mg of mouse-human chimeric anti-carcinoembryonic antigen monoclonal antibody coupled with 0.10-0.28 mg of fluorescein (molar ratio 1/10 to 1/14). The monoclonal antibody was also labeled with 0.2-0.4 mCi of 125I (1 Ci = 37 GBq). Photodetection of the tumor was done ex vivo on surgically resected tissues for the six patients and in vivo by fluorescence rectosigmoidoscopy for the sixth patient. Upon laser irradiation, clearly detectable heterogeneous green fluorescence from the dye-antibody conjugate was visually observed on all six tumors; almost no such fluorescence was detectable on normal mucosa. The yellowish tissue autofluorescence, which was emitted from both tumor and normal mucosa, could be subtracted by real-time image processing. Radioactivity measurements confirmed the specificity of tumor localization by the conjugate; tissue concentrations of up to 0.059% injected dose per g of tumor and 10 times less (0.006%) per g of normal mucosa were found. The overall results demonstrate the feasibility of tumor immunophotodiagnosis at the clinical level.