Open AccessBreast Cancer Treatment and Antibody Drug Conjugates: Beyond T-DM1
Author(s) -
Mony Ung,
JeanLouis Lacaze,
Eléonora De Maio,
Florence Dalenc
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
medical research archives
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2375-1924
pISSN - 2375-1916
DOI - 10.18103/mra.v9i8.2435
Subject(s) - trastuzumab emtansine , trastuzumab , antibody drug conjugate , medicine , cancer , cytotoxic t cell , breast cancer , bystander effect , monoclonal antibody , drug , metastatic breast cancer , pharmacology , cancer research , oncology , antibody , immunology , chemistry , in vitro , biochemistry
Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are a new class of anticancer agents that combine cytotoxic agents attached by a linker to a monoclonal antibody. These engineered drugs can selectively deliver a cytotoxic payload to targeted cancer cells and the local microenvironment (bystander effect), thereby increasing activity and reducing off-target toxicity. The association of ADCs with other anti-cancer therapies is therefore promising. Trastuzumab-emtansine was the first approved ADC in breast cancer (BC), specifically for the management of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive advanced breast cancer. New ADCs are in development in BC. Some have shown meaningful clinical benefit and have been recently approved, such as trastuzumab deruxtecan in HER2-positive trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) pretreated BC and Trop-2 guided sacituzumab govitecan in triple-negative BC. Trastuzumab deruxtecan also has potential clinical activity in HER2-low BC thanks to a bystander effect. In this article, we review the ADCs under development in advanced BC.