CANCER VACCINES: BETWEEN THE IDEA AND THE REALITY

Olivera J. Finn    about the author

Preface

Whether vaccines are designed to prepare the immune system for the encounter with a pathogen or with cancer, certain common challenges need to be faced, such as what antigen and what adjuvant to use, what type of immune response to generate and how to make it long lasting. Cancer, additionally, presents several unique hurdles. Cancer vaccines must overcome immune suppression exerted by the tumour, by previous therapy or by the effects of advanced age of the patient. If used for cancer prevention, vaccines must elicit effective long-term memory without the potential of causing autoimmunity. This article addresses the common and the unique challenges to cancer vaccines and the progress that has been made in meeting them. Considering how refractory cancer has been to standard therapy, efforts to achieve immune control of this disease are well justified.

Summary

• Challenges facing all vaccines, including cancer vaccines, are outlined. The relative importance of the choice of antigen, choice of adjuvant and the type of elicited immunity is discussed.
• The importance of using well-defined tumour antigens is emphasized and progress in their identification and characterization is reviewed.
• Specific challenges facing cancer vaccines are outlined. The importance of age-induced changes in the immune system, tumour-induced immunosuppression, inefficient memory generation in the presence of chronic antigen and immune evasion is discussed.
• Pre-clinical and clinical efforts in designing and testing therapeutic cancer vaccines are reviewed.
• Prophylactic use of vaccines against viruses that are known to be aetiological causes of specific cancers is discussed.
• A case is made for the prophylactic use of vaccines on the basis of shared, non-viral, tumour antigens.

To benefit from the full content of Nature Reviews Immunology every month, simply take out a subscription - click here for details.

back to top	NATURE REVIEWS | IMMUNOLOGY
© 2003 Nature Publishing Group