Biomaterials-assisted construction of neoantigen vaccines for personalized cancer immunotherapy

IntroductionCancer vaccine represents a promising strategy toward personalized immunotherapy, and its therapeutic potency highly relies on the specificity of tumor antigens. Among these extensively studied tumor antigens, neoantigens, a type of short synthetic peptides derived from random somatic mutations, have been shown to be able to elicit tumor-specific antitumor immune response for tumor suppression. However, challenges remain in the efficient and safe delivery of neoantigens to antigen-presenting cells inside lymph nodes for eliciting potent and sustained antitumor immune responses. The rapid advance of biomaterials including various nanomaterials, injectable hydrogels, and macroscopic scaffolds has been found to hold great promises to facilitate the construction of efficient cancer vaccines attributing to their high loading and controllable release capacities.Areas coveredIn this review, we will summarize and discuss the recent advances in the utilization of different types of biomaterials to construct neoantigen-based cancer vaccines, followed by a simple perspective on the future development of such biomaterial-assisted cancer neoantigen vaccination and personalized immunotherapy.Expert opinionThese latest progresses in biomaterial-assisted cancer vaccinations have shown great promises in boosting substantially potentiated tumor-specific antitumor immunity to suppress tumor growth, thus preventing tumor metastasis and recurrence.

Automated summary

Cancer vaccine is a promising strategy for personalized immunotherapy, with the efficacy depending on the specificity of tumor antigens. Neoantigens, derived from somatic mutations, have shown the potential to elicit tumor-specific antitumor immune response. However, the delivery of neoantigens to antigen-presenting cells for effective immune response remains a challenge. The development of biomaterials has provided opportunities to construct efficient cancer vaccines with high loading and controlled release capabilities.