Advances in Antibody–Drug Conjugates (ADCs) in Cancers

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Drug Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 592

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Guest Editor
Professor and Dean, Temple University School of Pharmacy, 3307 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA
Interests: targeted drug delivery; nanoparticles; antibody-drug conjugates; controlled release; chemoprevention; immunotherapy; cancer vaccine
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are targeted anticancer therapeutics comprising an antibody conjugated to a cytotoxic payload through a linker. This composition confers ADCs with improved specificity and less potential for side-effects than traditional chemotherapy regimens. Several ADCs have been approved for the treatment of both hematological malignancies and solid tumors, and numerous more are in clinical trials. While the composition of ADCs is straightforward, many factors, including antigen affinity/avidity/specificity, hydrophobicity of the construct, stability of the linker, atypical glycosylation patterns, and the presence of specific amino acid residues in the complementarity-determining region, impact the in vivo disposition and therapeutic efficacy of ADCs. This Special Issue will focus on the drug delivery aspects of ADCs and the relationship between the structural features and in vivo disposition of ADCs.

Prof. Dr. Jayanth Panyam
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs)
  • therapeutic efficacy
  • drug delivery
  • structural features
  • disposition
  • linker design
  • payload optimization

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 2550 KB  
Article
Characterisation of mAb104 Antibody–Drug Conjugates Targeting a Tumour-Selective HER2 Epitope
by Sagun Parakh, Nhi Huynh, Laura D. Osellame, Diana D. Cao, Angela Rigopoulos, Benjamin Gloria, Nancy Yanan Guo, Fiona E. Scott, Zhanqi Liu, Hui K. Gan and Andrew M. Scott
Cancers 2025, 17(18), 2995; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17182995 - 13 Sep 2025
Viewed by 210
Abstract
Background: The novel anti-HER2 antibody 104 (mAb104) targets a unique tumour-specific epitope, lacks normal tissue binding and can internalise into tumour cells, thus supporting its development into antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). Methods: We now describe the binding properties and preclinical activity of mAb104-ADCs [...] Read more.
Background: The novel anti-HER2 antibody 104 (mAb104) targets a unique tumour-specific epitope, lacks normal tissue binding and can internalise into tumour cells, thus supporting its development into antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). Methods: We now describe the binding properties and preclinical activity of mAb104-ADCs developed through the conjugation of mAb104 via linkers to the anti-microtubule drug maytansoinoid ematansine (DM1-SMCC; DM1), topoisomerase I inhibitor, exatecan derivative (MC-GGFG-DX8951; DX8951) or microtubule disruptor monomethyl auristatin E (MC-vc-PAB-MMAE; MMAE). Results: Mab104-ADCs demonstrate dose-dependent cytotoxicity in vitro. The safety of single-dose mAb104-DX8951 was demonstrated in vivo at doses up to 10 mg/kg. MAb104-ADCs also demonstrated potent and prolonged anti-tumour activity in a range of tumour types with variable HER2 expression. Mab104-DX8951 showed significant responses in trastuzumab-resistant HER2-positive breast cancer, low HER2-expressing cancers, as well as HER2-overexpressing cancers. Conclusion: These findings indicate the potential for tumour-specific targeting of HER2-expressing tumours with mAb104-ADCs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Antibody–Drug Conjugates (ADCs) in Cancers)
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