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Review
. 2025 May 21:16:1516419.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1516419. eCollection 2025.

Antibody-drug conjugates in cancer therapy: applications and future advances

Rou Long  1 , Hanrong Zuo  2 , Guiyang Tang  1 , Chaohui Zhang  3 , Xinru Yue  1 , Jinsai Yang  4 , Xinyu Luo  3 , Yuqi Deng  1 , Jieya Qiu  3 , Jiale Li  1 , Jianhong Zuo  1   3   4   5
Affiliations
Review

Antibody-drug conjugates in cancer therapy: applications and future advances

Rou Long et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs) represent an emerging cancer therapeutic strategy and are becoming increasingly significant in the field of public health. With the evolution of precision oncology, the potential applications of ADCs are being realized more broadly. This review provides an overview of the fundamental molecular design of ADCs, examining how each component-antibody, linker, payload, and coupling chemistry-affects the physicochemical and biological properties of the final product. The paper also discusses novel ADC designs that are in preclinical and early clinical development stages as next-generation cancer therapies. These include bispecific ADCs, Probody-drug conjugate, immunostimulatory ADCs (ISACs), Degrader-Antibody Conjugates (DACs), and Dual-Payload ADCs. Their applications and potential future advancements in cancer therapy are also explored.

Keywords: ADCS; antibody-drug conjugates; dual-payload ADCs; linker; probody-drug conjugate.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Illustrates the mechanism of action of ADCs.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The structure and mechanism of Probody-drug conjugate. (A) The structure of Probody-drug conjugate. (B) the mechanism of action of Probody-drug conjugate.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The mechanism of stimulator of interferon genes.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The structure and mechanism of Degradative-Antibody conjugate. (A) The structure of Degradative-Antibody conjugate. (B) the mechanism of action of Degradative-Antibody conjugate. (C) The structure of Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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