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Bispecific Antibodies for Cancer Immunotherapy

Current Perspectives

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Abstract

The concept of using bispecific antibodies to retarget immune effector cells for cancer therapy was conceived more than 20 years ago. However, initial clinical studies were rather disappointing mainly due to low efficacy, severe adverse effects and immunogenicity of the bispecific antibodies. A deeper understanding of effector cell biology and especially developments in the field of antibody engineering has led to the generation of new classes of bispecific antibodies capable of circumventing many of these obstacles. Furthermore, new applications were established for bispecific antibodies, such as pre-targeting strategies in radioimmunotherapy or dual targeting approaches in order to improve binding, selectivity, and efficacy. This review summarizes recent progress in the development of bispecific antibodies and describes some new concepts developed for cancer immunotherapy.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (KO 1461/4, MU 2956/2-1) and the Deutsche Krebshilfe (MU 2956/2-1). The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this review.

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  1. Institut für Zellbiologie und Immunologie, Universität Stuttgart, Allmandring 31, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany

    Dafne Müller &  Roland E. Kontermann

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  1. Dafne Müller
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  2. Roland E. Kontermann
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Correspondence to Roland E. Kontermann.

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Müller, D., Kontermann, R.E. Bispecific Antibodies for Cancer Immunotherapy. BioDrugs 24, 89–98 (2010). https://doi.org/10.2165/11530960-000000000-00000

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