Researchers are exploring a new treatment strategy for multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer that often becomes resistant to therapy. They found that a low dose of the chemotherapy drug bortezomib can increase a protein called PD-L1 on cancer cells. This increase in PD-L1 makes the cancer cells more visible to a new type of engineered immune cell called “bispecific αPD-L1 × αCD3 T cell engager-armed T cells” (BATs). These BATs are designed to both block PD-L1 (preventing cancer from hiding) and activate the body’s own T cells to kill the cancer. Lab tests showed that BATs effectively killed myeloma cells, and this killing power was even stronger when combined with low-dose bortezomib. This combination approach looks promising for treating multiple myeloma, even in cases where the cancer has become resistant to bortezomib.
Funding
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Original Paper
Title of original paper: Enhancing T cell cytotoxicity in multiple myeloma with bispecific αPD-L1 × αCD3 T cell engager-armed T cells and low-dose bortezomib therapy
Journal: Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy (Biomed Pharmacother)
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2025.117878
Correspondence
Aussara Panya
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand; Cell Engineering for Cancer Therapy Research Group, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
Email: [email protected]
Pa-Thai Yenchitsomanus
Siriraj Center of Research Excellence for Cancer Immunotherapy (SiCORE-CIT), Research Department, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand and Division of Molecular Medicine, Research Department, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
E-mail: [email protected]