B-cell maturation antigen expression across hematologic cancers: a systematic literature review
- PMID: 32606424
- PMCID: PMC7327051
- DOI: 10.1038/s41408-020-0337-y
B-cell maturation antigen expression across hematologic cancers: a systematic literature review
Abstract
B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) plays a critical role in regulating B-cell proliferation and survival. There is evidence for BCMA expression in various hematologic malignancies, suggesting that BCMA may play an important role as a biomarker or therapeutic target in these diseases. Given advances in understanding the role of BCMA in B-cell development and the promise of BCMA as a therapeutic target, a systematic review is needed to rigorously assess the evidence for BCMA expression and identify areas of consensus and future research. The objective of this review was to summarize the evidence on BCMA protein and mRNA expression across hematologic malignancies. Using a PubMed database search up to 28 August 2019, a systematic literature review of publications reporting BCMA expression in patients with hematologic malignancies was conducted. Data from published congress abstracts presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Society of Hematology were also searched. Studies that assessed BCMA expression (protein or mRNA) in patients of any age with hematologic malignancies were included. A total of 21 studies met inclusion criteria and were included in the review. BCMA was expressed in several hematologic malignancies, including multiple myeloma (MM), chronic lymphocytic leukemia, acute B-lymphoblastic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and Hodgkin lymphoma. BCMA was expressed at uniformly high levels across all 13 MM studies and at low to moderate levels in acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. These results suggest that BCMA is a relevant target in MM as well as in a subset of B-cell leukemia. BCMA expression in Hodgkin lymphoma and NHL varied across studies, and further research is needed to determine the utility of BCMA as an antibody target and biomarker in these diseases. Differences in sample type, timing of sample collection, and laboratory technique used may have affected the reporting of BCMA levels.
Conflict of interest statement
N.T., A.F., J.F., and R.B. are employees of and own stock in Amgen, Inc, developer of 2 BiTE® immunotherapies (AMG 420 and AMG 701) and 1 ADC (AMG 224) targeting BCMA. O.L. received grants/research support from Celgene, Amgen, BMS, and Karyopharm; received grants/research support, honoraria, and other from Janssen; received grants/research support and other for Takeda; received honoraria from Celgene, Amgen, and Adaptive Biotech; and received other from Merck. A.D. received honoraria and consulting or advisory role fees from Roche, Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Physicians’ Education Resource, Seattle Genetics, Peerview Institute, Oncology Specialty Group, Pharmacyclics, Celgene, Novartis, Takeda, and EUSAPharma; and research grants from National Cancer Institute and Roche. D.S. received honoraria and consulting or advisory role fees from Celgene, Amgen, Merck, Janssen, BMS, Takeda, and Karyopharm; participated in speakers’ bureaus for Celgene, Amgen, Merck, Janssen, BMS, and Takeda; and received research funding from Celgene.
Figures


Similar articles
-
Effective Targeting of Multiple B-Cell Maturation Antigen-Expressing Hematological Malignances by Anti-B-Cell Maturation Antigen Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells.Hum Gene Ther. 2018 May;29(5):585-601. doi: 10.1089/hum.2018.001. Hum Gene Ther. 2018. PMID: 29641319 Free PMC article.
-
Redirecting T-cell Activity with Anti-BCMA/Anti-CD3 Bispecific Antibodies in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Other B-cell Lymphomas.Cancer Res Commun. 2022 May 9;2(5):330-341. doi: 10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-22-0083. eCollection 2022 May. Cancer Res Commun. 2022. PMID: 36875718 Free PMC article.
-
Disturbed expression of the anti-apoptosis gene, survivin, and EPR-1 in hematological malignancies.Leuk Res. 2000 Nov;24(11):965-70. doi: 10.1016/s0145-2126(00)00065-5. Leuk Res. 2000. PMID: 11086180
-
The clinical significance of B-cell maturation antigen as a therapeutic target and biomarker.Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2018 Apr;18(4):319-329. doi: 10.1080/14737159.2018.1448269. Epub 2018 Mar 7. Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2018. PMID: 29504446 Review.
-
Intention to treat versus modified intention-to-treat analysis in B-cell maturation antigen and CD19 chimeric antigen receptor trials: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Eur J Cancer. 2021 Oct;156:164-174. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2021.07.036. Epub 2021 Aug 26. Eur J Cancer. 2021. PMID: 34454318
Cited by
-
Therapeutic Targets of Monoclonal Antibodies Used in the Treatment of Cancer: Current and Emerging.Biomedicines. 2023 Jul 24;11(7):2086. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines11072086. Biomedicines. 2023. PMID: 37509725 Free PMC article. Review.
-
The Implementation of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell Therapy in Pediatric Patients: Where Did We Come From, Where Are We Now, and Where are We Going?Clin Hematol Int. 2024 Mar 13;6(1):96-115. doi: 10.46989/001c.94386. eCollection 2024. Clin Hematol Int. 2024. PMID: 38817691 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Target Antigen Attributes and Their Contributions to Clinically Approved Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs) in Haematopoietic and Solid Cancers.Cancers (Basel). 2023 Mar 19;15(6):1845. doi: 10.3390/cancers15061845. Cancers (Basel). 2023. PMID: 36980732 Free PMC article. Review.
-
β2-Adrenergic Receptor Mediated Inhibition of T Cell Function and Its Implications for CAR-T Cell Therapy.Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Aug 16;24(16):12837. doi: 10.3390/ijms241612837. Int J Mol Sci. 2023. PMID: 37629018 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Characterization of BCMA Expression in Circulating Rare Single Cells of Patients with Plasma Cell Neoplasms.Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Nov 3;23(21):13427. doi: 10.3390/ijms232113427. Int J Mol Sci. 2022. PMID: 36362214 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Topp MS, et al. Anti-B-cell maturation antigen BiTE molecule AMG 420 induces response in multiple myeloma. J. Clin. Oncol. 2020;38:775–783. - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Research Materials
Miscellaneous