Development and prospects for bispecific antibody-based therapeutics in cancer and other applications

Background: Progress in molecular biology for the production of bispecific antibodies (BiAbs) and the expanding knowledge on receptors on malignant and normal target cells provide the basis for developing new strategies using antibody- and/or receptor-based platform technology for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Objective: This review provides a preclinical and clinical perspective on application of bispecific antibodies for the treatment of solid tumors, hematologic malignancies and other diseases. Methods: This review focuses on BiAb-based immunotherapy, clinical trials, alternative strategies, the challenges of technology and future applications. Results/conclusion: The successful application of a particular BiAb will depend on a thorough evaluation of the expected functional application and thoughtful engineering of structure, affinity and number of binding sites based on the desired function.