Community oncologists are satisfied with bispecifics in B-cell lymphoma

Elizabeth A. Brem, MD, clinical assistant professor in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, discusses the shift she has seen in the community when it comes to the use of bispecific antibody therapy for patients B-cell lymphoma.

In an interview following a case-based roundtable event she moderated, Brem described how community oncologists are finding it increasingly easier to use bispecific antibodies for their patients. This change has been supported by longer availability and the increase in approvals of these drugs for various diseases such as lung and skin cancer.

While bispecific antibody therapies were originally used in academic centers, more and more community practices are adopting these treatments. Large community networks have been able to put them into practice more quickly, and this trend suggests that there will be easier access to bispecific therapies in community settings in the future, according to Brem.

TRANSCRIPTION:

0:10 | One thing that I think has been really interesting over the last year or two is that our community partners are becoming much more familiar with bispecific antibodies. I think both have just been around longer, and as these things get more approvals and other diseases, right? So we have multiple agents available for lymphoma and multiple agents for multiple myeloma, but even for many office-based providers this will still be a very small part of their practice.

0:37 | But now we’re getting them in small cell lung cancer and melanoma, and so I think our community partners will become more comfortable with them as these types of drugs move into the solid tumor space. Because I think there was a big gap early on in the bispecifics where you still kind of had to go to the academic center to get them. I think what I’m learning is that over the last six months to a year, our community sites, particularly the large community networks, have really embraced them and gotten to grips with them very, very quickly. So it looks like access to these medications is getting easier over time.