An artificial antibody has been developed to act as a medicine against certain types of blood cancer. Now the method has been further refined to give the most possible effect and the least possible side effects. But it has not yet been tested on humans.
In recent years, a new type of immunotherapy against cancer has been developed, in which the patient is given artificial, so-called bispecific or double-binding antibodies.
A first drug of it this variety has recently been approved in the United States. In three studies now published in various Science journals, the method is further refined. Hareth Nahi is a professor of hematology at Karolinska Institutet and researches double-binding antibodies himself.
– The study describes a possible bispecific antibody that gives maximum effect without any side effects. If it succeeds in phase 1 study eventually on humans, then it is heaven for these patients, I hope.
Double-binding antibodies kills cancer cells, partly by attacking them directly, but also by bringing the cancer cells together with the body’s immune cells which can then fight them.
In one of the studies, tests were performed on human cells in test tubes or injected into mice, and an antibody was developed that kills cancerous T cells – which cause certain types of blood cancer. This without damaging the healthy t cells of the immune system.
An advantage of this type of treatment is that it does not need to be tailored for the patient, which makes it easier and faster to use, says Hareth Nahi.
– These are products that you can give to patients at once.
Hareth Nahi believes that double-binding antibodies can be used against many types of cancer, but each diagnosis will require its own specific preparation. Now it remains to be seen if the results will be as good in experiments on humans.
– The next step is human beings, and we are looking forward to it with excitement.
Sources:
S. Paul et al. “TCR beta chain-directed bispecific antibodies for the treatment of T-cell cancers”. Science Translational Medicine, March 1, 2021. Doi: 10.1126 / scitranslmed.abd3595
EHC Hsiue et al. “Targeting a neoantigen derived from a common TP53 mutation”. Science, March 1, 2021. Doi: 10.1126 / science.abc8697
J. Douglass et al. “Bispecific antibodies targeting mutant RAS neoantigens”. Science Immunology, March 1, 2021. Doi: 10.1126 / sciimmunol.abd5515