Mass Spectrometry Profiling of Therapeutic Antibodies in Multiple Myeloma: m/z Features and Concordance with Immunofixation Electrophoresis
<b>Background/Objectives:</b> Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, including bispecifics (t-mAbs), can interfere with serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP) and immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE), mimicking residual M-protein. We evaluated a mass spectrometry (MS; EXENT<sup>®</sup>)-based workflow supported by an <i>m</i>/<i>z</i> reference library to discriminate drug from disease and assess concordance with IFE. <b>Methods:</b> Fifty-eight serum samples from 29 multiple myeloma patients were analyzed at baseline and after 3 months. Targeted enrichment of t-mAbs followed by MS enabled detection of peaks annotated through matching to a theoretical <i>m</i>/<i>z</i> panel and correlation with SPEP/IFE results. <b>Results:</b> Comparison of IFE versus MS showed 11/29 (38%) double positives, 15/29 (52%) double negatives, and 3/29 (10%) IFE-/MS+; no IFE+/MS- cases were observed. Using MS as a reference, IFE exhibited 78.6% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The <i>m</i>/<i>z</i> library enabled attribution of interference to linvoseltamab (<i>n</i> = 9), daratumumab (<i>n</i> = 6), and teclistamab (<i>n</i> = 3); in 16 patients treated with other bispecifics, no drug-related peaks were detected after 3 months. Longitudinal analysis discriminated therapeutic from endogenous immunoglobulins, identified baseline M-protein, and prevented false residual signals. <b>Conclusions:</b> MS (EXENT<sup>®</sup>)-based characterization of t-mAbs improves response monitoring accuracy in multiple myeloma and supports integration of MS into routine laboratory practice.
Authors
- R. Mateos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1133-7165)
- Cristina Agulló
- Rosalia Anglès Vidal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2424-3301)
- Fátima Mirás (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5096-3145)
- Joaquín Martínez‐López (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7908-0063)
- María‐Teresa Cedena (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5851-3720)
- Nieves López‐Muñoz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0090-6673)
- Nerea Varo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2362-9472)
- Rodrigo Íñiguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2804-5038)
- Daniel Gil-Alós (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8504-2842)
- Alberto Blanco Sánchez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7637-7283)
- A. Tejerizo-García (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7350-4985)
- Rafael Alonso Fernández (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3774-118X)
- E. López (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3083-5573)
- Rosa Pello (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6894-2755)
- María Ángeles Iglesias (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7517-4576)
- Marta Outón (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5796-4638)
Institutions
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ES)
- Research Institute Hospital 12 de Octubre (ES)
- Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (ES)
- Complejo Hospitalario de Salamanca (ES)
- Hospital Universitario 12 De Octubre (ES)
- Clinica Universidad de Navarra (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Biomedicines
- Published
- 2025-11-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13122933
- Primary Topic
- Multiple Myeloma Research and Treatments
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00