REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Thoracic Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1630056
The Potential of Antibody-Drug Conjugates in Immunotherapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer : Current Progress and Future
Provisionally accepted
- 1The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
- 2Zhejiang Hospital, Hangzhou, China
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Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have gained significant attention as a promising therapeutic strategy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), combining the precision of monoclonal antibodies with the potent cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy. This review summarizes recent advancements in the development of ADCs for NSCLC, focusing on their mechanism of action, key components, and progress in clinical applications. By specifically targeting tumor-associated antigens, ADCs deliver cytotoxic agents directly to cancer cells, thereby enhancing therapeutic efficacy while minimizing systemic toxicity. Several ADCs, such as trastuzumab deruxtecan and sacituzumab govitecan, have shown encouraging results in clinical trials, particularly in tumors with molecular alterations like HER2 and TROP2. Additionally, the combination of ADCs with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) offers a novel and promising therapeutic avenue, potentially enhancing immune responses and overcoming tumor resistance. Despite these promising outcomes, challenges such as drug resistance, immune evasion, and toxicity persist. The novelty and focus of this article are to discuss the significance of optimizing ADCs design, exploring combination therapies, and enhancing safety management in improving treatment outcomes, with the aim of promoting the research and application of ADCs in the immunotherapy of NSCLC.
Keywords: review, NSCLC, Immunotherapy, Cancer, Antibody-drug conjugates
Received: 16 May 2025; Accepted: 26 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lin, Ma, Zhu and Zhong. 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: Xinhai Zhu, Zhejiang Hospital, Hangzhou, China
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