Immunotherapeutic strategies targeting B cell maturation antigen in multiple myeloma

Abstract

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematologic malignancy, and is characterized by the clonal expansion of malignant plasma cells. Despite the recent improvement in patient outcome due to the use of novel therapeutic agents and stem cell transplantation, all patients eventually relapse due to clone evolution. B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) is highly expressed in and specific for MM cells, and has been implicated in the pathogenesis as well as treatment development for MM. In this review, we will summarize representative anti-BCMA immune therapeutic strategies, including BCMA-targeted vaccines, anti-BCMA antibodies and BCMA-targeted CAR cells. Combination of different immunotherapeutic strategies of targeting BCMA, multi-target immune therapeutic strategies, and adding immune modulatory agents to normalize anti-MM immune system in minimal residual disease (MRD) negative patients, will also be discussed.