{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T03:22:31Z","timestamp":1788232951455,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":81,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783900800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["82100238"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82100238"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["12574470"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["12574470"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["82100238"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82100238"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["12574470"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["12574470"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100021171","name":"Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2024A1515011063"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024A1515011063"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100021171","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou","award":["202201011046"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202201011046"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100018609","name":"High-level Hospital Construction Project of Guangdong Provincial People\u2019s Hospital","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DFJH201923"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DFJH201923"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100018609","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["DFJH201923"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DFJH201923"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/045kpgw45","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Medical Scientific Research Foundation of Guangdong Province","award":["A2019063"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["A2019063"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmaceutics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hematological malignancies account for over 1.3 million new cases and approximately 700,000 deaths annually. Despite advances in targeted therapies, immunotherapies, and antibody\u2013drug conjugates, relapse, refractory disease, and acquired drug resistance remain critical challenges. Peptide\u2013drug conjugates (PDCs) have emerged as a promising targeted delivery platform, combining peptide-mediated specificity with potent cytotoxic payloads. In this review, we summarized the fundamental design principles of PDCs, including targeting peptide selection, linker engineering, and payload optimization, with emphasis on the biological characteristics of hematological malignancies. We then examined current preclinical and clinical progress across multiple myeloma, acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and chronic myeloid leukemia. We further discussed emerging strategies such as cathepsin B-responsive PROTAC-PDC hybrids, nanotechnology-assisted delivery, and artificial intelligence-guided molecular design. Finally, we addressed key translational challenges, including tumor heterogeneity, payload resistance, and pharmacokinetic constraints, and proposed future directions toward biomarker-driven precision PDC therapy for hematological malignancies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pharmaceutics18070849","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T02:34:44Z","timestamp":1783996484000},"page":"849","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Peptide\u2013Drug Conjugates for Targeted Delivery in Hematological Malignancies: From Design Principles to Clinical Application"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Ningdan","family":"Zhou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hematology, Guangdong Provincial People\u2019s Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510080, China"},{"name":"School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mengyuan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hematology, Guangdong Provincial People\u2019s Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510080, China"},{"name":"School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanyan","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hematology, Guangdong Provincial People\u2019s Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510080, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanjun","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Guangzhou 510060, China"},{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Guangzhou 510060, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0862-4224","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jinghua","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hematology, Guangdong Provincial People\u2019s Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510080, China"},{"name":"School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1720","DOI":"10.1038\/s41375-022-01620-2","article-title":"The 5th Edition of the World Health Organization Classification of Haematolymphoid Tumours: Lymphoid Neoplasms","volume":"36","author":"Alaggio","year":"2022","journal-title":"Leukemia"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"410","DOI":"10.1182\/blood-2017-02-734541","article-title":"Diagnosis and Classification of Hematologic Malignancies on the Basis of Genetics","volume":"130","author":"Taylor","year":"2017","journal-title":"Blood"},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"229","article-title":"Global Cancer Statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries","volume":"74","author":"Bray","year":"2024","journal-title":"CA Cancer J. 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