Tebentafusp as a Promising Drug for the Treatment of Uveal Melanoma

• Published in: Current drug targets Vol. 25; no. 3; p. 149
• Main Authors: Al Balushi, Khalid, Al Hadhrami, Abdulrahman, Balushi, Hamdan Al, Al Lawati, Abdullah, Das, Srijit
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United Arab Emirates 01.01.2024
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Clinical Trials as Topic; Humans; Melanoma - drug therapy; Melanoma - pathology; Uveal Neoplasms - drug therapy; treatment; tumor; Uveal melanoma; tebentafusp; malignant; drug; etiology
• DOI: 10.2174/0113894501280380231214105255

Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults and commonly occurs in the Caucasian population. The malignancy involves the uvea of the eye, which includes the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. The etiology of UM is still not well understood, but age is a risk factor. Symptoms include blurred vision, redness of the eye, floaters, dark spots, a change in the size of the pupil, and loss of vision. The location, shape, and size of the tumor are important for therapeutic purposes. Treating metastasis is always a challenge in UM cases. In cases of lung metastasis, the survival rate decreases. Treatment includes surgery, laser therapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy. Recently, in 2022, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug tebentafusp. Tebentafusp was developed to target the most common HLA complex in humans. The present review discusses the indications for the use of a new drug tebentafusp, its mechanism of action, dose, pharmacokinetics, results of clinical trials conducted, and adverse effects like cytokine release syndrome. Hence, tebentafusp is the first T cell receptor (TCR) therapeutic drug that could be considered for the treatment of UM.