[The growing field of immunoconjugates in oncology. A successful link(er) between antibodies and small cytotoxic molecules]

Abstract

As evidenced by the recent FDA approvals of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris(®)) and trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla(®)), antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) are becoming an important class of biotherapeutics in oncology. In addition, the strong pipeline of ADC in clinical development, bearing 38 ADC for the treatment of both solid and hematological malignancies, emphasizes the interest and confidence of clinicians and pharmaceutical industry in the area. Although the ADC concept looks pretty simple, it took decades before it turned out to be a successful therapeutic solution. Improving the understanding of ADC mechanism of action allowed identifying the most critical factors influencing ADC efficacy and toxicity. This led to still ongoing research efforts in antibody and alternative scaffold engineering, in linker and conjugation chemistry, as well as in the screening and selection of optimal target antigens and cytotoxics.