Review: Highly Selective Compounds for the Antibody-Directed Enzyme Prodrug Therapy of Cancer

Abstract

Antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (ADEPT) is a recent development for a selective treatment of cancer, based on site-directed formation at the surface of malignant cells of cytotoxic compounds from non-toxic prodrugs with a conjugate of an appropriate enzyme and a monoclonal antibody which binds to tumour-associated antigens. New potent prodrugs of analogues of the antibiotic CC-1065 have been developed. These show a remarkable selectivity with a Q(IC₅₀) value of up to more than 3000. Moreover, the formed drug has a high potency with an IC₅₀ of 30 pM.