# CL2A

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/cl2a/  
OnCo record `cl2a` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

CL2A is the deliberately fragile linker in Trodelvy: it releases SN-38 in the acidic tumour environment as well as inside cells, feeding the bystander effect.

## Summary

CL2A is a pH-sensitive, hydrolysable linker with a short polyethylene glycol spacer. It releases roughly half its payload within a day in plasma, which would be a flaw for a more potent payload but suits moderately potent SN-38 at a very high drug-to-antibody ratio. The result is payload release both inside targeted cells and in the tumour microenvironment.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacituzumab_govitecan
- Humanized anti-Trop-2 IgG-SN-38 (CL2A) conjugate (Cardillo et al., Clin Cancer Res 2011): https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-10-2939

## Connected records

- terms: [Bystander effect (ADC)](https://onco.cc/terms/bystander-effect/), [Linker (ADC)](https://onco.cc/terms/linker/), [SN-38](https://onco.cc/terms/sn-38/)
- technologies: [Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)](https://onco.cc/technologies/adc/)
- drugs: [Sacituzumab govitecan](https://onco.cc/drugs/sacituzumab-govitecan/)
- key papers: [Humanized anti-Trop-2 IgG-SN-38 conjugate for effective treatment of diverse epithelial cancers: preclinical studies in human cancer xenograft models and monkeys](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-cardillo-clin-cancer-res/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/cl2a.json