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Figure 1. Mechanism of action of ADCs. ADCs bind to target antigens on cancer cells, forming an ADC-antigen complex, which is internalized via endocytosis^[5]. Within endosomes, cleavable linkers release the cytotoxic payload upon fusion with lysosomes, triggering mechanisms like DNA intercalation and microtubule disruption that lead to apoptosis. Additionally, the bystander effect allows the cytotoxic payload to impact neighboring tumor cells, enhancing therapeutic efficacy. Created in BioRender. Larose, E. (2024) https://BioRender.com/f12z842. ADCs: Antibody-drug conjugates.