Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, discussed the growing use of bispecific antibodies and how he expects to see more of these advances in the coming years.
Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD
Director
Hillman Cancer Center
University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center
Pittsburgh, PA
As we take in the exciting new advances discussed at the recent 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, this column again acknowledges the novel therapeutic agents being developed. Over the years, we have reflected on the excitement of immune checkpoint inhibitors, which are now approved for most cancers in various stages. We also celebrated the successes of cellular therapies in solid and liquid tumors. The concept of so-called designer antibody therapies was proposed, and protein engineering launched—based on the rapidly improving understanding of biology and emergence of new therapeutic targets.
These agents are finally being used in clinical practice. There is a whole synthetic engineering strategy to developing an antibody with dual specifi cities, similar to the concept of antibody-drug conjugates. The antibody specificity may attract and colocalize different cell populations or simply take advantage of multiple targets being expressed on the same tumor cell. In some situations, bispecific antibodies may actually be so effective as to replace the more complex cellular production of a chimeric antigen receptor and tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy.
Further enhancement of these bispecific antibodies may be to retain effector function of the antibody itself and trigger extrinsic cellular immune stimulation in the tumor microenvironment. Indeed, the specificity variability of the novel antibody molecule may create a local tumor microenvironment that is part of the appeal.
Although some of these protein engineering strategies may have seemed far off, we have seen in the past months beneficial activity with an off-the-shelf advantage over long-production personalized cellular therapy. Because antibody therapies have been broadly used across solid tumors and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies are so far restricted to lymphoid and blood cancers, the expanse of oncology that may be impacted by these novel bispecific antibodies and their derivatives is truly exciting, and their effect may be transformative.
Emerging from the ASCO meeting and looking toward European Society for Medical Oncology Congress, I expect that we will see more and more of these advances. What an exciting time and motivation for further investment in collaboration between academia and industry, in partnership with patients and governmental investigational mechanisms.
Leon-Ferre Explores Targeting of PIK3CA Alterations in ER+ Breast Cancer
July 24th 2024During a live Community Case Forum event in partnership with the Minnesota Society of Clinical Oncology, Roberto A. Leon-Ferre, MD, discussed drugs targeting PIK3CA alterations in patients with ER+ metastatic breast cancer.
Read More
Roundtable Roundup: Treatment for Metastatic pMMR Endometrial Cancer
July 23rd 2024In separate, live virtual events, Michael J. Birrer, MD, PhD, and Jubilee Brown, MD, surveyed participants on the treatment of a postmenopausal woman with stage IVA endometrial cancer after first-line chemotherapy.
Read More
George Explores Impact of Risk Status With Cabozantinib/Nivolumab in Advanced RCC
July 19th 2024During a Case-Based Roundtable® event, Daniel George, MD, discussed the results of the CheckMate 9ER trial across favorable, intermediate, and poor risk groups in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.
Read More
Depth of Response With Quadruplet Regimens Considered in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma
July 18th 2024During a Case-Based Roundtable® event, Timothy Schmidt, MD, and participants discussed treatment selection for a 54-year-old patient with transplant eligible R-ISS stage 2/R2-ISS stage 3 IgG-κ myeloma.
Read More
Rossetti Reviews Myelofibrosis Risk Stratification and Outcome Data for Pacritinib
July 17th 2024During a Case-Based Roundtable® event, James M. Rossetti, DO, discussed the role of risk scoring and stratification tools and treatment for a patient with declining hemoglobin and platelet counts due to primary myelofibrosis.
Read More