Antibody Drug Conjugates: A Leap Ahead in Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Monoclonal antibody (MAb) based targeted therapies have achieved appreciable success in various branches of drug therapeutics, predominantly when used along with cytotoxic drugs. These immunological therapies based on antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have been recently encouraged by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat Solid tumours, Melanoma, Breast Cancer and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) are an important division of therapeutics that allows the antigen-selective ability of MAbs to deliver highly potent cytotoxic drugs at the site of antigen-expressing tumor cells. The use of MAb directed delivery can confer a high therapeutic index to highly potent cytotoxic drugs, increasing both the efficacy and safety of therapy. In other words, to achieve the goal of highly improved therapeutic efficacy and reduced toxicity, each component of an ADC i.e. the MAb, linker and the drug needs to be considered in context of targeted antigen. Furthermore, the mechanism of ADCs, characteristics of targets, methods of preparation, linker drugs being used in ADC design and regulatory requirements for new drug approval are discussed.