Open AccessReview
Rapid Progress in Immunotherapies for Multiple Myeloma: An Updated Comprehensive Review
1
Department of Pathology, Keio University, School of Medicine, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan
2
Division of Hematology, Department of Internal of Medicine, Keio University, School of Medicine, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan
Academic Editors: Nicola Stefano Fracchiolla and Francesco Onida
Received: 30 December 2020
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Revised: 22 February 2021
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Accepted: 1 March 2021
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Published: 31 May 2021
Simple Summary
Despite rapid advances in the development of novel agents over the last decade for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM), MM remains an incurable disease. Therefore, the development of novel targeting therapies with different mechanisms of action is needed to achieve a deep and durable response for the cure of MM. Recently, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), belanatmab mafadotin, which targets B cell membrane antigen (BCMA) on plasma cells, was approved for the treatment of relapsed or refractory MM in 2020. To date, immunotherapies including bi-specific or tri-specific antibodies, adoptive cellular therapy using autologous chimeric antigen (CAR)-T cells, allogeneic CAR-natural killer (NK) cells, and checkpoint inhibitors have been developed for MM, and a variety of clinical trials are currently underway or planned. This review presents an update on the most recent clinical and preclinical advances with a focus on results from clinical trials in progress with BCMA-targeted immunotherapies or the development of other novel targets in MM.