Tumour hypoxia has been pursued as a cancer drug target for over 30 years, most notably using bioreductive (hypoxia-activated) prodrugs that target antineoplastic agents to low-oxygen tumour compartments. Despite compelling evidence linking hypoxia with treatment resistance and adverse prognosis, a number of such prodrugs have recently failed to demonstrate efficacy in pivotal clinical trials; an outcome that demands reflection on the discovery and development of these compounds. In this review, we discuss a clear disconnect between the pathobiology of tumour hypoxia, the pharmacology of hypoxia-activated prodrugs and the manner in which they have been taken into clinical development. Hypoxia-activated prodrugs have been evaluated in the manner of broad-spectrum cytotoxic agents, yet a growing body of evidence suggests that their activity is likely to be dependent on the coincidence of tumour hypoxia, expression of specific prodrug-activating reductases and intrinsic sensitivity of malignant clones to the cytotoxic effector. Hypoxia itself is highly variable between and within individual tumours and is not treatment-limiting in all cancer subtypes. Defining predictive biomarkers for hypoxia-activated prodrugs and overcoming the technical challenges of assaying them in clinical settings will be essential to deploying these agents in the era of personalised cancer medicine.

The HER2-targeted antibody–drug conjugate trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) is approved for the treatment of metastatic, HER2-positive breast cancer after prior trastuzumab and taxane therapy, and has also demonstrated efficacy in the adjuvant setting in incomplete responders to neoadjuvant therapy. Despite its objective activity, intrinsic and acquired resistance to T-DM1 remains a major clinical challenge. T-DM1 mediates its activity in a number of ways, encompassing HER2 signalling blockade, Fc-mediated immune response and payload-mediated microtubule poisoning. Resistance mechanisms relating to each of these features have been demonstrated, and we outline the findings of these studies in this review. In our overview of the substantial literature on T-DM1 activity and resistance, we conclude that the T-DM1 resistance mechanisms most strongly supported by the experimental data relate to dysfunctional intracellular metabolism of the construct and subversion of DM1-mediated cell killing. Loss of dependence on signalling initiated by HER2–HER2 homodimers is not substantiated as a resistance mechanism by clinical or experimental studies, and the impact of EGFR expression and tumour immunological status requires further investigation. These findings are instructive with respect to strategies that might overcome T-DM1 resistance, including the use of second-generation anti-HER2 antibody–drug conjugates that deploy alternative linker-payload chemistries.