Cancer Vaccines: Another Aspect to Immunotherapy

Background: Therapeutic cancer vaccination is an important side of immunotherapy. For the vaccines to achieve their treatment aim, they must overcome barriers erected by a restrained immune system. Objective: This simple review hopes to provide a foundation for the principles behind cancer vaccines. Methods: Several literature search engines were employed to collect peer-reviewed papers using the criteria outlined in the methods section. Main points: In addition to the well-established “preventative” cancer vaccines, there are now a few therapeutic vaccines for the “treatment” of certain malignancies. Moreover, hundreds of ongoing clinical trials eagerly await their results due to the relative infancy of the field. The continued advancements in cancer immunotherapy can bring fruitful results to some of the clinical work in progress. Conclusions: Therapeutic cancer vaccines are establishing themselves as another arm of immunotherapy in the fight against this complex disease.