A controversy session at the 2021 ESMO Annual Meeting focused on the debate where experts weighed on which among the two emerging cancer therapies—CAR T-cell therapy or bispecific antibodies would prevail in the long fight against cancer.

CAR-T therapy involves enhancing the cytotoxic ability of a patient's naïve T-cells by genetic manipulation. A foreign DNA is first introduced to produce the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) on the T-cell surface, and the resulting CAR T-cells are expanded in vitro. They are then re-introduced to the patient, where they identify a specific cell surface antigen on cancer cells and attack them.

On the other hand, bispecific antibodies work by binding to two targets; one present on the cancer cell and another present on T cells. This way, a tumor cell and an activated immune cell are brought together to eradicate cancer.