MINI REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1632705
This article is part of the Research TopicEnhancing Cancer Therapy: Antibody Drug Conjugates and Immunotherapies for Resistant CancersView all articles
Another Power of Antibody-drug Conjugates: Immunomodulatory Effect and Clinical Applications
Provisionally accepted
- 1Cancer Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
- 2The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
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Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) enhance tumour immunogenicity through multidimensional immune modulation beyond targeted cytotoxicity. The immune remodeling of the tumour microenvironment (TME) suggests potential synergistic mechanisms with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs): ICIs amplify antitumour immune responses by blocking inhibitory signals. Preclinical studies and preliminary clinical evidence demonstrate their synergistic efficacy; however, mechanistic synergy requires further experimental validation. Current challenges encompass the impact of heterogeneous TME on therapeutic outcomes and toxicity risks including interstitial lung disease. Advancing the translational potential of combination therapies necessitates optimized linker designs, development of immunostimulatory payloads, and establishment of precise biomarker frameworks. This review investigates the immunomodulatory mechanisms of ADCs, providing a theoretical foundation and novel directions for antitumour combination therapies and next-generation ADC development.
Keywords: Antibody-drug conjugates, immune checkpoint inhibitors, tumour micro-environment, Immunoregulation, Tumour immunology ADC: Antibody-Drug Conjugate, ADCC: Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, ADCP: Antibody-Dependent Cellular Phagocytosis, AE: adverse event
Received: 21 May 2025; Accepted: 05 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shi, Jia, Cui and Lv. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jiuwei Cui, Cancer Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
Zheng Lv, Cancer Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.