Frontline CAR T and Bispecific Antibodies Are the Next Frontier in Myeloma

Pieter Sonneveld, MD, PhD, discusses how ongoing research is exploring CAR T-cell therapy and bispecific antibodies in the frontline treatment setting for patients with multiple myeloma. In this interview from the 2026 International Myeloma Society Annual Meeting, Sonneveld, professor of hematology at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and chair of the European Myeloma Network (EMN), also provides an update on an EMN trial comparing CAR T-cell therapy with autologous transplant in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.

Sonneveld views CAR T-cell treatment in the frontline setting as a potential game changer. He places this emerging approach within a broader shift toward earlier use of T-cell–redirecting immunotherapies, including BCMA-directed bispecific antibodies such as teclistamab (Tecvayli) and elranatamab (Elrexfio), as well as GPRC5D-directed bispecific antibodies. With multiple immunotherapy approaches being evaluated in earlier lines of therapy, Sonneveld describes a myeloma landscape in which CAR T-cell therapy and bispecific antibodies could eventually become part of frontline treatment.