Bispecific Antibodies for Lymphoma: What Does the Future Look Like for the Promising Targeted Therapy?

A Promising Option for Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

• Bispecific antibodies are a unique targeted therapy that essentially attack cancer on two fronts — and recent approvals mean more patients have access to the innovative treatment option.
• Currently, two drugs have been approved by the FDA to treat diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: Glofitamab (Columvi) and Epcoritamab (Epkinly).
• The drugs “are really showing quite striking efficacy and a manageable safety profile in patients who’ve had at least two prior lines of treatment,” Dr. Loretta Nastoupil, an oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet.
• Dr. Nastoupil notes that trials are now looking into using the drugs at earlier points during treatment.

"One of the most exciting therapies that's emerged just in the last few years are bispecific antibodies ," Dr. Loretta Nastoupil, an oncologist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet. Bispecific antibodies are a unique targeted therapy that essentially attack cancer on two fronts — and recent approvals mean more patients have access to the treatment option. "We're using the patient's own immune cells without having to take them out of the patient's body," Dr. Nastoupil explains. "It's essentially taking a therapy off the shelf, administering it either under the skin or through the vein, and targeting the patient's own tumor proteins and then engaging their own immune system to then eradicate those tumor cells." There are currently two drugs that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat diffuse large B-cell lymphoma:

• Glofitamab (Columvi)
• Epcoritamab (Epkinly)

These "are really showing quite striking efficacy and a manageable safety profile in patients who've had at least two prior lines of treatment," Dr. Nastoupil explains.

Bispecific Antibodies: The Future

The fact that bispecific antibodies are now FDA approved is a big deal when it comes to treating lymphoma, Dr. Nastoupil notes, as they were not approved as recently as a year ago. "Now, those newer therapies are quickly marching their way into earlier lines in the form of trials," she notes. "So, maybe next year or two years from now, [patients will] even have access to those maybe as their first treatment approach." If you're looking for innovative treatment options currently in the clinical trial phase, check out SurvivorNet's simple Clinical Trial Finder .