Bi-specific natural killer cell engager (BiKE): a novel therapy for glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM), a common and aggressive primary adult brain tumor, is a devastating diagnosis. Even with the standard treatment of surgical resection, chemotherapy, and radiation, patients on average survive 14.6 months(1). GBM remains resistant to traditional therapy due to its invasive and clever manipulation of the brain environment: the tumor infiltrates glial cells heterogeneously, is immunosuppressive, and is protected via the blood-brain barrier(1). GBM also has inevitable reoccurrence due to therapeutic resistance, cancer stem cells, and unresected cells invading into the normal brain(2). Therefore, it is critical to design better therapies that overcome these obstacles to effectively eradicate this complex tumor.