Adept

antibody-directed enzyme pro-drug therapy: a method under development for the treatment of cancer. It involves the patient being injected first with an antibody-enzyme complex that binds specifically to tumour cells, and later with a pro-drug, which is inactive until it comes into contact with the antibody-enzyme complex. The enzyme converts the pro-drug into a CYTOTOXIC DRUG form, which is concentrated around the tumour and can therefore destroy the cancer cells without damaging normal tissue.