Unique approach for B lymphoma therapy

Abstract

Genetic engineering has substantially improved antibodies used in the treatment of cancer and related diseases, initially by providing more compatible reagents (chimeric, humanized, human) for patients but more recently by improving their clinical efficacy.1 In this issue of Blood, Gupta et al have used a novel genetic engineering method, termed "dock and lock,"2-4 to construct a HexAb bispecific antibody directed against 2 B-cell epitopes (CD20, CD74). By so doing, they have tapped into a distinctive B-cell homeostatic mechanism that controls B-cell growth and proliferation5. © 2011 by The American Society of Hematology.