Clinical efficacy and safety of bispecific antibodies for the treatment of solid tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction: Immunotherapy is a promising and progressing treatment approach for cancer. Bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) are antibody constructs that can bind to two different epitopes. The dual-specificity of BsAbs improves their efficacy compared to monoclonal antibodies.Areas covered: Although BsAbs have achieved excellent therapeutic effects in hematologic cancers, no systematic review with meta-analysis evaluated their efficacy in solid tumors. In the present systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to establish the clinical efficacy and safety of BsAbs in solid tumors.Expert opinion: BsAbs are not associated with significantly better safety or efficacy outcomes than conventional therapies. BsAb was not associated with improvement in overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and disease control rate (DCR). However, BsAb increased the rate of stable disease (SD) significantly. Also, BsAb substantially increased the OS and PFS and resulted in a higher frequency of DCR for uveal melanoma. Furthermore, the safety analysis showed no obvious difference in the rate of any adverse events (AEs), grade >= 3 AEs, serious AEs, and AEs leading to treatment discontinuation in the intervention group compared to controls. Further high-quality randomized controlled trials on BsAbs in solid tumors are highly recommended.

Automated summary

Immunotherapy has shown promise in cancer treatment, and bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) are antibody constructs that can bind to two different epitopes. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of BsAbs in solid tumors, and found that BsAbs did not significantly improve overall survival, progression-free survival, objective response rate, and disease control rate compared to conventional therapies, but did increase the rate of stable disease. Further high-quality randomized controlled trials on BsAbs in solid tumors are recommended.