Expert Details ‘Exciting’ Bispecific Combos for Lymphoma

Research assessing bispecific antibodies in combination with chemotherapy agents, other anti-CD20 antibodies, or agents that do not cause bone marrow suppression has the potential to produce exciting results in patients diagnosed with lymphoma, according to Ann S. LaCasce, MD, MMSc.

In an interview with CancerNetwork^®, LaCasce, institute physician, Fellowship Program chair for Hematology/Oncology, and director of Hematology/Oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Brigham Cancer Center, as well as an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, highlighted the potential of these combinations in several disease subtypes, from those with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma to first-line indolent follicular lymphoma.

She explains that it may be possible to see durable remissions following treatment with these combinations—a question that only ongoing research efforts can work to answer.

Transcript:

There are a lot of ongoing studies with bispecific antibodies—both CD20 and CD3. We have 4 main compounds that are currently in clinical trials; mosunetuzumab-axgb [Lunsumio] has been approved in the United States in follicular lymphoma, [for example]. The studies that I’m excited about are the ones that are combining these agents up-front in various subtypes of lymphoma.

Particularly, in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, they’re being combined with R-CHOP [rituximab (Rituxan), cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine sulfate, and prednisone] and with polatuzumab vedotin-piiq [Polivy]plus R-CHP [rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone]. Giving these drugs when patients have not had chemotherapy that may impact their T-cell function; is going to be interesting.

Looking at adding these agents in the up-front setting and indolent lymphomas like follicular lymphoma in combination with other CD20 antibodies and/or with lenalidomide [Revlimid] or medications that we think of as not causing bone marrow suppression is very exciting. Perhaps we'll see patients have durable remissions. I’m looking forward to seeing how this all plays out across all different subtypes of lymphoma.

Reference

FDA grants accelerated approval to mosunetuzumab-axgb for relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma. News release. FDA. December 22, 2022. Accessed January 27, 2023. https://bit.ly/3WE5Ze5