Antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (ADEPT) for cancer

Antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (ADEPT) aims to restrict the cytotoxic action to tumour sites. The obstacles to achieve this were recognised at the outset, but time and experience have given these better definition. The development of fusion proteins has provided the means of making consistent antibody-enzyme constructs on an adequate scale, and glycosylation has provided the means to control the clearance of enzyme from non-tumour sites. Human enzymes have yet to be tested in a clinical setting, and there are pointers indicating that the immunological response to foreign enzymes can be overcome. The relatively small number of purpose-designed prodrugs tested so far leaves this an area ripe for further development. The ongoing iterative process between preclinical and clinical studies is critical to achieving the objective.