Emerging antibody–drug conjugates in lung cancer: highlights from the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting

Abstract

The 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting presented substantial new data on antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) in lung cancer, highlighting the ongoing expansion of ADC-based strategies from later-line treatment toward first-line combination regimens. This focused narrative review summarizes and discusses the efficacy and safety findings of ADCs targeting TROP2, HER2, Nectin-4, PD-L1, c-Met, B7-H3, DLL3, SEZ6, and other emerging targets in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), with particular attention to emerging ADC plus immune checkpoint inhibitor combinations in the first-line setting. Taken together, these findings highlight an expanding ADC landscape in lung cancer. However, many of the emerging strategies remain supported primarily by preliminary conference-reported or early-phase data and therefore require confirmation in mature peer-reviewed studies and adequately powered randomized clinical trials.