How Is Bispecific Antibody Therapy Changing Myeloma Care?
How Is Bispecific Antibody Therapy Changing Myeloma Care? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.
How does bispecific antibody therapy work? Dr. Brandon Blue explains the benefits of bispecific antibody therapy and how this treatment may be quicker to access for patients.
Dr. Brandon Blue is Assistant Member and Clinical Instructor in the Department of Malignant Hematology at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL. Learn more about Dr. Brandon Blue.
Related Resources:
What Myeloma Patients Need to Know About Bispecific Antibodies |
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Questions and Considerations When Making Myeloma Treatment Decisions |
Transcript:
Katherine Banwell:
Dr. Blue, can you tell us about bispecific antibody therapy for myeloma?
Dr. Brandon Blue:
Yeah. So, bispecific is basically similar to CAR T in a way that it uses the body’s immune system. But the big difference with bispecific therapy is that not only does it attack the plasma cell, which is the typical cancer cell in multiple myeloma, but it also brings the cancer cell to the actual immune system.
So, it’s one thing to kind of go after the cancer cell, it’s another thing to say, “Hey, here’s the immune system, here’s the cancer cell. Let me figure out a way to marry the two of them together so that the fighting really takes place in real time.” And luckily, we’ve seen some really fantastic results.
Katherine Banwell:
So, how is this therapy changing myeloma care?
Dr. Brandon Blue:
The big thing about bispecifics is that they’re a much quicker process than CAR T.
Right now, one of the things that is slowing up the CAR T process is something called manufacturing time. And so, even if someone wanted CAR T today, they may not be able to get it for six to eight weeks due to that manufacturing time. However, these bispecific are typically readily available so that if you need them today, probably by tomorrow, the next day, they can be infused. And so, that’s a much quicker time, and that allows patients to get the treatment that they need.
Because, again, these are patients who, unfortunately, disease has not responded to a lot of the more traditional therapies. So, they need help, and sometimes they need help quickly.
