New Delhi, Dec 8 || An immune and cancer cell-targeting antibody therapy has shown potential to eradicate residual traces of deadly blood cell cancer, multiple myeloma, according to interim results from a clinical trial.
The trial included 18 patients who underwent up to six cycles of treatment with the antibody linvoseltamab. On highly sensitive tests, none of the patients had detectable disease, revealed the study presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in Orlando, US.
The preliminary success suggests linvoseltamab -- a bispecific antibody -- could allow patients to avoid bone marrow transplants, which involve intense, high-potency chemotherapy.
It also points to the long-term potential to improve patients’ odds against this disease.
“These patients received modern and effective, up-front treatment that eliminated 90 per cent of their tumour,” said lead researcher Dickran Kazandjian, from the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.