Emerging Role of Vaccines in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a serious threat to women’s health. It can metastasize to vital organs, causing complications and endangering lives. Early detection and treatment can prolong survival. Although existing treatments such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and endocrine therapy have improved the overall cure rate of breast cancer, they are ineffective for patients with advanced metastatic breast cancer. Tumor vaccine therapy is expected to solve this problem by inducing the activation of the body’s immune system, precisely killing cancer cells, and reducing the chance of cancer recurrence. There are two types of breast cancer vaccines: preventive vaccines and therapeutic vaccines. Preventive vaccines are designed to activate the immune system in high-risk individuals, targeting specific antigens commonly found on breast cancer cells. Several ongoing clinical trials are testing these vaccines. Therapeutic vaccines are designed to treat patients already diagnosed with breast cancer by activating their immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells. Examples of therapeutic vaccines include peptide-based vaccines, whole-cell lysate vaccines, viral or DNA-based vaccines, and dendritic cell vaccines. This review introduces the types, mechanisms, and ongoing clinical trials of breast cancer vaccines, including preventive and therapeutic vaccines, and discusses the future research directions in this field.