Bispecific Antibodies (bsAbs): Promising Immunotherapeutic Agents for Cancer Therapy

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is identified as a life-threatening malignancy. Despite several efforts and proceedings available for CRC therapy, it is still a health concern. Among a vast array of novel therapeutic procedures, employing bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) is currently considered to be a promising approach for cancer therapy. BsAbs, as a large family of molecules designed to realize two distinct epitopes or antigens, can be beneficial microgadgets to target the tumor-associated antigen pairs. On the other hand, applying the immune system's capabilities to attack malignant cells has been proven as a tremendous development in cancer therapeutic projects. The current study has attempted to overview some of the approved BsAbs in CRC therapy and those under clinical trials. For this purpose, reputable scientific search engines and databases, such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, Scopus, etc., were explored using the keywords ‘bispecific antibodies’, ‘colorectal cancer’, ‘immunotherapy’ and ‘tumor markers’.

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Bispecific antibodies targeting dual tumor-associated antigens in cancer therapy

Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1007/s00432-020-03404-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 146 (12) ◽

pp. 3111-3122

Author(s):

Shuyu Huang ◽

Sander M. J. van Duijnhoven ◽

Alice J. A. M. Sijts ◽

Andrea van Elsas

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

Cancer Therapy ◽

Clinical Evaluation ◽

Immune Cell ◽

Early Stage ◽

Relevant Literature ◽

Hematologic Malignancies ◽

Bispecific Antibodies ◽

Tumor Associated Antigens ◽

Tumor Selectivity

Abstract Purpose Bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) have emerged as a leading drug class for cancer therapy and are becoming increasingly of interest for therapeutic applications. As of April 2020, over 123 BsAbs are under clinical evaluation for use in oncology (including the two marketed BsAbs Blinatumomab and Catumaxomab). The majority (82 of 123) of BsAbs under clinical evaluation can be categorized as bispecific immune cell engager whereas a second less well-discussed subclass of BsAbs targets two tumor-associated antigens (TAAs). In this review, we summarize the clinical development of dual TAAs targeting BsAbs and provide an overview of critical considerations when designing dual TAA targeting BsAbs. Methods Herein the relevant literature and clinical trials published in English until April 1st 2020 were searched using PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov database. BsAbs were considered to be active in clinic if their clinical trials were not terminated, withdrawn or completed before 2018 without reporting results. Data missed by searching ClinicalTrials.gov was manually curated. Results Dual TAAs targeting BsAbs offer several advantages including increased tumor selectivity, potential to concurrently modulate two functional pathways in the tumor cell and may yield improved payload delivery. Conclusions Dual TAAs targeting BsAbs represent a valuable class of biologics and early stage clinical studies have demonstrated promising anti-tumor efficacy in both hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.

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