Cancer Vaccines: A Brief Overview

Cancer vaccine strategies differ from traditional vaccines for infectious diseases by focusing on treating active disease rather than preventing infection. This review provides an overview of various cancer vaccines and adjuvants explored to reduce tumor burden. Some vaccines are approved or in late-stage clinical trials, including the dendritic cell vaccine Sipuleucel-T (Provenge) and the recombinant viral prostate cancer vaccine PSA-TRICOM (Prostvac-VF). Vaccines against oncogenic viruses like human papillomavirus (HPV) are beyond the scope of this review. Cancer-associated "altered self" antigens often induce weaker immune responses compared to foreign antigens from pathogens, necessitating the use of immune stimulants and adjuvants. Vaccine types explored include autologous immune cell vaccines, recombinant virus vaccines, peptide vaccines, DNA vaccines, and whole-cell vaccines derived from human tumor cell lines. Recent advances in understanding tumor-induced immunosuppression and immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as ipilimumab, offer new opportunities for improving cancer vaccine efficacy.