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Recent Advancements for Blood Cancer Treatment

/ by Lifeline® Cell Technology

Blood Cancer Awareness Month is an opportunity to recognize the ongoing oncology research efforts that are translating into more precise and effective treatments. Blood cancers include leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, which affect the blood, bone marrow, and lymphatic system. Conventional therapies such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation have improved outcomes for many patients in this setting. However, these approaches often suffer from poor specificity, low bioavailability, and systemic toxicity, resulting in treatment-related side effects and suboptimal outcomes.

Today, advances in our understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying these cancers are helping researchers develop therapies that target cancer cells more selectively. Targeted therapies and immunotherapies have helped reshape the treatment landscape and opened new possibilities for patients1,2.

Targeted Therapies: Taking Aim at Cancer Cells

Targeted therapies are designed to interfere with specific proteins, signaling pathways, or cellular processes that cancer cells rely on for growth and survival. Unlike conventional chemotherapy, which broadly targets rapidly dividing cells, these approaches aim to disrupt cancer biology more selectively.

One important class of targeted therapies is small molecule inhibitors, which can block specific signaling pathways that contribute to cancer cell proliferation and survival. In B cell malignancies, inhibitors of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) interfere with B cell receptor signaling for diseases such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and mantle cell lymphoma1,2. Other targeted therapies inhibit proteins such as BCL-2 or specific mutant forms of enzymes involved in cancer development.

Monoclonal antibodies are another example, able to bind cancer-associated antigens on the surface of malignant cells to disrupt signaling pathways required for cancer cell survival. Rituximab, for example, binds CD20+ on B cells and is used to treat several B-cell malignancies1. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) build on this targeting approach by linking a monoclonal antibody to a potent chemotherapy drug to selectively destroy cells. This improved targeting can help minimize the chance of off-target toxicity in surrounding healthy cells. Several ADCs are now used in hematologic malignancies, while new targets, payloads, and linker technologies continue to expand their potential.

Immunotherapies: Harnessing the Immune System

Immunotherapies have opened another powerful avenue for blood cancer treatment by harnessing or redirecting the body’s immune system to recognize and eliminate malignant cells. These include modalities such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, bispecific antibodies, and CAR T-cell therapy.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors work by blocking checkpoint proteins such as PD-1, PD-L1, or CTLA-4, which can dampen T-cell activity and allow cancer cells to evade immune attack3. By interrupting these inhibitory signals, checkpoint inhibitors can help restore T-cell activity against malignant cells.

Bispecific antibodies provide a physical bridge to activate immune cells by binding two antigens simultaneously. One part of the antibody attaches to an antigen on an immune cell, while the other attaches to an antigen on a malignant cell. This brings the two cells into close proximity and can trigger the immune cell to attack the cancer cell. Blinatumomab, for example, binds CD19+ on leukemia cells and CD3+ on T cells, helping activate T-cell-mediated killing of the cancer cell4.

One of the most transformative examples of immunotherapy is CAR T-cell therapy. In this personalized approach, a patient’s T cells are collected and genetically modified to express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that recognizes a specific antigen on cancer cells. The modified cells are then expanded and returned to the patient, where they can recognize and attack cancer cells expressing the target antigen.

CAR T-cell therapies have demonstrated remarkable clinical results in several B cell malignancies. Since 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved seven CAR-T therapies including Kymriah® (tisa-cel) for pediatric and young adult B cell ALL, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma and Tecartus® (brexu-cel), which is approved for adult B cell ALL and mantle cell lymphoma1,2.

The Role of Human Blood Cells in Precision Oncology

Primary human blood cells, including peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), T cells, B cells, and monocytes, provide researchers with physiologically relevant systems to support research and development that help researchers understand disease biology, identify new targets, and develop new therapies.

Healthy donor-derived immune cells can be compared with cells from cancer patients to better understand differences in immune-cell composition and function. These comparisons can help researchers investigate disease mechanisms and identify opportunities for targeted therapies and immunotherapies. PBMCs can also serve as starting material from which T cells are isolated and genetically engineered to produce allogeneic CAR T-cell therapies.

Isolated immune cell populations can provide an even more focused view of cellular function. T cells can be used to investigate activation, proliferation, cytotoxicity, and response to immune-targeted therapies, while B cells and monocytes can support studies of immune signaling, disease mechanisms, and interactions within the tumor microenvironment.

As targeted therapies and immunotherapies continue to evolve, access to high-quality primary human cells will remain an important part of driving progress that advances new therapeutic strategies.

Lifeline Cell Technology Blood Cells and Media

Lifeline Cell Technology offers an extensive portfolio of high-quality human blood cells to support research in immunology, oncology, and cell therapy and help advance the development of more precise cancer treatments.

Explore our blog to see how our cells and culture media are advancing biomedical research worldwide. If you have used our products in your publication, we’d love to feature your work here!

References

  1. Ghaffari K, Amin Moradi Hasan-Abad, Masoud Etedali, Alizadeh S, Ghasemi A. Hematologic malignancies, and an overview of emerging therapies for hematologic malignancies: a systematic review. Cancer Treatment and Research Communications2025;46:101074-101074. doi:10.1016/j.ctarc.2025.101074
  2. Miao H, Fang Y, Pan C, et al. Transforming the landscape of cancer treatment with seven promising novel therapies: evolution and future perspectives. Medicine Plus2025;2(2):100087. doi:10.1016/j.medp.2025.100087
  3. Han L, Wang K, Jiang Z, Guo X, Yu J. Recent development in bispecific antibody immunotherapy for hematological malignancies. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology2025;212:104752. doi:10.1016/j.critrevonc.2025.104752
  4. Pophali P, Varela JC, Rosenblatt J. Immune checkpoint blockade in hematological malignancies: current state and future potential. Front Oncol. 2024;14:1323914. Published 2024 Jan 23. doi:10.3389/fonc.2024.1323914

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