Antibody Drug Conjugates for Cancer Therapy

In recent decades, the use of antibody drugs conjugates (ADCs) generated promise for the treatment of cancer. In this type of treatment, a monoclonal antibody against a cancer specific antigen is used, and a cytotoxic drug is attached to the antibody via a linker. This smart drug delivery system also named Armed Antibody. In this review, important factors for the design and performance of an ADC are described.
Search by the keywords “Antibody Drug Conjugate” in databases Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science were done and then 58 related articles that published in 2000-2017 were selected.
FINDINGS: To develop a suitable ADC different parameters should be considered. The choice of the type of antibody, drug and linker should be based on different factors to achieve an ADC with optimal performance. far, more than 671 clinical trials have been registered in Clinical Trial Database registry (www.clinicaltrials.gov) using the keyword ‘antibody drug conjugate’, but only three drugs with trade names, Mylotarg, Adcetris® and Kadcyla® have received FDA approve however the production of Mylotarg is stopped due to lethal effects.
Cancer treatment by traditional methods due to the effects of chemotherapy drugs on normal cells caused adverse effects but the use of ADCs can induces an apoptosis effects on tumor cells by targeted drug delivery