Safety and Tolerability of Antibody-Drug Conjugates in Cancer

Antibody-drug conjugates are monoclonal antibodies attached to biologically active drugs through chemical linkers that deliver and release cytotoxic agents at the tumor site, reducing the likelihood of systemic exposure and therefore toxicity. Currently, there are about 110 ongoing studies implementing antibody-drug conjugates in the treatment of multiple human malignancies. Antibody-drug conjugates carry a feature of the specificity of a monoclonal antibody and the anti-neoplastic potential of a cytotoxin. The first antibody-drug conjugate was approved in 2001, and the field of antibody-drug conjugates has expanded since then with three more antibody-drug conjugates being added to the market. The complex structure of the antibody-drug conjugate poses a challenge in designing a clinically adequate molecule. Antibody-drug conjugates are usually well tolerated with some predictable adverse reactions, as well as new medical issues, that need careful approach. This review provides an outline of the current status of the efficacy and safety of antibody-drug conjugates in malignant diseases.