Transcript
Announcer:
Welcome to Project Oncology on ReachMD. Today, Dr. Raghava Induru will be discussing the evolving role of antibody-drug conjugates in non-small cell lung cancer. Dr. Induru is a medical oncologist specializing in thoracic oncology at the Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute in North Carolina. Let’s hear from him now.
Dr. Induru:
We have to understand antibody-drug conjugates as a history to think about its future. The concept is not new. In fact, it was described almost 120 years ago—the concept of how an antibody-drug conjugate should work—but for it to come to fruition took decades, because we needed to understand the antibody, the drug, and the linker in a perfect fashion. So ultimately, what it is really giving us is the hope about how the landscape will continue to change moving forward.
And right now, once the patients go past the standup therapies, we really don't have significant treatments without fearing huge amounts of toxicity. So ADCs offer the fine balance between being an effective treatment as well as reducing the risk of collateral damage, meaning reducing the risk of toxicities.
We have already seen some approvals in non-small cell lung cancer, so I'm really excited about this mechanism of action and target with the antibody-drug conjugates in the treatment of lung cancer. I think we are only scratching the surface in terms of, not just understanding the antibody-drug conjugates, but seeing a lot more development of newer antibody-drug conjugates. We will have a better understanding of their toxicities, and better management of those toxicities will help us better use these things to provide long-term outcomes. I believe that the future landscape is very bright when it comes to antibody-drug conjugates. I'm truly excited about this selected group of drugs.
Announcer:
That was Dr. Raghava Induru talking about how antibody-drug conjugates are changing the non-small cell lung cancer treatment landscape. To access this and other episodes in our series, visit Project Oncology on ReachMD.com, where you can Be Part of the Knowledge. Thanks for listening!
