Cancer vaccines as promising immuno-therapeutics: platforms and current progress

Research on tumor immunotherapy has made tremendous progress in the past decades, with numerous studies entering the clinical evaluation. The cancer vaccine is considered a promising therapeutic strategy in the immunotherapy of solid tumors. Cancer vaccine stimulates anti-tumor immunity with tumor antigens, which could be delivered in the form of whole cells, peptides, nucleic acids, etc. Ideal cancer vaccines could overcome the immune suppression in tumors and induce both humoral immunity and cellular immunity. In this review, we introduced the working mechanism of cancer vaccines and summarized four platforms for cancer vaccine development. We also highlighted the clinical research progress of the cancer vaccines, especially focusing on their clinical application and therapeutic efficacy, which might hopefully facilitate the future design of the cancer vaccine.

Automated summary

Research on tumor immunotherapy has made significant progress, and cancer vaccines have emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy. Cancer vaccines stimulate anti-tumor immunity with tumor antigens, potentially overcoming immune suppression and inducing both humoral and cellular immunity. This review introduces the working mechanism of cancer vaccines, summarizes different development platforms, and highlights their clinical research progress, with a focus on clinical application and therapeutic efficacy.