Tebentafusp-tebn
Tebentafusp-tebn (Kimmtrak®) is cellular immunotherapy for use in unresectable or metastatic (advanced) uveal melanoma in patients who are HLA-A*02:01-positive. It is the first FDA-approved treatment for advanced uveal melanoma and the only treatment that has been shown to improve survival.
Tebentafusp-tebn is a bispecific T-cell engager that targets the HLA-A*02:01/gp100 complex, a marker (antigen) frequently found on uveal melanoma tumor cells and melanocytes. Bispecifics are antibodies designed to simultaneously bind to T cells and tumor-cell antigens. Tebentafusp-tebn consists of a T-cell receptor precisely engineered to bind to cells with the HLA-A*02:01/gp100 marker and cytotoxic T cells, activating T cells to recognize and kill tumor cells. It can also target normal melanocytes.
Only patients who are HLA-A*02:01-positive are eligible for tebentafusp-tebn
– HLA-A*02:01 status is determined by a simple blood test, a high-resolution HLA test.
– Biopsy tissue samples should not be used. Tissue testing yields inaccurate results because of intratumoral heterogeneity and because HLA can be downregulated in tumor tissue.
– Patients should be tested as soon as possible after diagnosis, since it can take up to 1 to 2 weeks to receive the results back.
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