Bi-Specific Antibodies- New Improvements to Cancer Immunotherapy

In the last several years, immunotherapy has been hailed as the therapeutic breakthrough for cancer that we’ve all been waiting for.  The ability to utilize and manipulate our own immune systems to eradicate cancer is not only highly promising, but has already proven effective in a subset of patients in the clinic – and this is not just in one cancer type – but many.  A lot of attention has been given to immune checkpoint blockade in highly mutagenic cancers such as melanoma and those of the lung, as well as to chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T therapy), but a third category is now gaining more attention as well.  This category is that of bispecific antibodies, or BsAbs.   Interestingly, bispecific antibodies were originally hypothesized to be a method to combat cancer as early as the 1980s.  These work through their affinity to two different targets which act to promote tumor progression.  By binding these targets, they in essence block their ability to interact with their normal partners and are then unable exert their oncogenic effects.  They also have the ability to link therapeutic agents to cancer cells to deliver the desired blow of the therapies.  This video, published by Roche in May of 2016, details the use of T-cell bispecific antibodies for use in cancer.

Sources: Roche, Youtube, Nature Reviews