New Technologies Bloom Together for Bettering Cancer Drug Conjugates

Abstract

The development of anticancer drug conjugates is now focused in three broad areas: improvements to existing antibody drug conjugates, identification of new targets, and development of new conjugate forms. This article focuses on the exciting preclinical studies in these three areas and advances in the technology that improves preclinical development.

Research progress of antibody-drug conjugates therapy for HER2-low expressing gastric cancer

“…At the same time, after effectively internalized, cytotoxic drugs should release cytotoxic drugs quickly to kill tumor cells [ 23 ]. Payload is the critical component of ADC that mediates the anti-tumor effect and impacts vital cellular processes to kill tumor cells [24] . Typically, ADCs release payloads in a biologically active form intracellularly after lysosomal degradation [25] .…”

Nanomedicine Targeting Myeloid‐Derived Suppressor Cells Enhances Anti‐Tumor Immunity

“…Recent advancements, such as biomimetic technology, [110] engineered bacteria, [132] covalent organic frameworks (COFs), [133] and deuteration techniques, [134] offer advantages in biocompatibility, tumor penetration, and con-trolled drug release. Furthermore, emerging targeted therapies, including micro/nanorobotic systems, [135] proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs), [136] X-drug conjugate (XDC), [137] oncolytic viruses, [138] living cells [139] and artificial intelligence (AI), [140] show potential for precise MDSCs targeting, promising more effective and safe interventions in cancer immunotherapy. Additionally, enhancing clinical translation requires addressing safety concerns, biodistribution challenges, and rigorous toxicity testing.…”

Peptide–drug conjugates (PDCs): a novel trend of research and development on targeted therapy, hype or hope?

“…Firstly, Targeted therapeutic agents can inhibit the expression of the protein, such as protein kinases or enzymes 19 ; another approach is to fuse a potent molecular structure ( e.g. , ADC, phalloidin, or CAR-T) to an overexpressed protein on the surface of tumor cells and collaboratively inhibit tumor cell division while delivering a cytotoxic payload or stimulating a tumor-directed immune response 20 ; the third approach is the application of PDC, which drives the accumulation of toxic payloads in tumor stem cells. The biggest challenge with transporting proteins and peptides in vivo is their instability.…”