With the arrival of the precision medicine and personalized treatment era, targeted therapy that improves efficacy and reduces side effects has become the mainstream approach of cancer treatment. Antibody fragments that further enhance penetration and retain the most critical antigen-specific binding functions are considered the focus of research targeting cancer imaging and therapy. Thanks to the superior penetration and rapid blood clearance of antibody fragments, antibody fragment-based imaging agents enable efficient and sensitive imaging of tumour sites. In tumour-targeted therapy, antibody fragments can directly inhibit tumour proliferation and growth, serve as an ideal carrier for delivery of anti-tumour drugs, or manipulate the immune system to eliminate tumour cells. In this review, the excellent physicochemical properties and the basic structure of antibody fragments are expressly depicted depicted, the progress of antibody fragments in cancer therapy and imaging are thoroughly summarized, and the future development of antibody fragments is predicted.
Keywords: Targeted therapy; antibody fragment; cancer diagnosis; cancer imaging; cancer therapy.