Advances in nanotechnology-enabled adjuvants for peptide-based cancer vaccines

Peptide-based vaccines only contain peptide epitopes and exclude unnecessary biological materials, which greatly reduces the risk of causing an undesired immune response and further improves the safety profile, garnering considerable interest in vaccine development. However, the immunogenicity induced by these peptides alone is not potent enough to elicit an effective immune response. Recently, combining the adjuvants with peptide antigens has shown promising effects to realize a satisfying immune response. In this review, we discuss the development of immunoadjuvants to enhance the safety and efficacy of peptide-based vaccines. The emphasis is placed on the application and clinical translation of nanotechnology-based adjuvants, highlighting the associated challenges and exploring future directions.