Abstract

Background: The therapeutic outcomes and the prognosis of patients with various hematologic malignancies are not always ideal with the current standard of care.

Objective: The aim of this study is to analyze the results of the use of monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates for the therapy of malignant hemopathies.

Methods: A mini-review was achieved using the articles published in Web of Science and PubMed between January 2017 and January 2020 and the new patents were made in this field.

Results: Naked monoclonal antibodies have improved the therapeutic results obtained with standard of care, but they also have side effects and the use of some of them can lead to the loss of the target antigen through trogocytosis, which explains the resistance that occurs during therapy. The results obtained with naked monoclonal antibodies have been improved by a better monoclonal antibody preparation, the use of bispecific antibodies (against two antigens on the target cell surface or by binding both surface antigen on target cells and T-cell receptor complex, followed by cytotoxic T-lymphocytes activation and subsequent cytolysis of the target cell), the use of monoclonal or bispecific constructs in frontline regimens, combining immunotherapy with chemotherapy, including through the use of antibody-drug conjugates (which provides a targeted release of a chemotherapeutic agent).

Conclusion: Immunotherapy and immuno-chemotherapy have improved the outcome of the patients with malignant hemopathies through a targeted, personalized therapy, with reduced systemic toxicity, which in some cases can even induce deep complete remissions, including minimal residual disease negativity.

Keywords: Antibody-drug conjugate, bispecific antibody, leukemia, lymphoma, monoclonal antibody, obinutuzumab, ofatumumab, rituximab.