Progress and Future Directions with Peptide-Drug Conjugates for Targeted Cancer Therapy.

ABSTRACT: We review drug conjugates combining a tumor-selective moiety with a cytotoxic agent as cancer treatments. Currently, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are the most common drug conjugates used clinically as cancer treatments. While providing both efficacy and favorable tolerability, ADCs have limitations due to their size and complexity. Peptides as tumor-targeting carriers in peptide-drug conjugates (PDCs) offer a number of benefits. Melphalan flufenamide (melflufen) is a highly lipophilic PDC that takes a novel approach by utilizing increased aminopeptidase activity to selectively increase the release and concentration of cytotoxic alkylating agents inside tumor cells. The only other PDC approved currently for clinical use is 177Lu-dotatate, a targeted form of radiotherapy combining a somat

SUBMITTER: Lindberg J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8512983 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature