Cancer Vaccines in Genitourinary Malignancies: Current Advances and Future Directions

Therapeutic cancer vaccines are a promising immunotherapy approach in genitourinary (GU) cancers, designed to stimulate antitumor immune responses through antigen-specific T-cell activation. Although agents such as bacillus Calmette–Guérin in bladder cancer and sipuleucel-T in prostate cancer have shown success, vaccine monotherapy has generally produced limited clinical benefit due to tumor heterogeneity, poor immune infiltration, and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments. Multiple vaccine platforms have demonstrated safety and immunogenicity in prostate, renal cell, and urothelial cancers, but efficacy remains modest. Current strategies focus on multi-antigen targeting, improved antigen presentation, and combination therapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors, radiotherapy, and targeted agents to enhance antitumor activity. Advances in personalized vaccine design and delivery systems are driving progress, though challenges such as manufacturing complexity, cost, and biomarker development remain. Ongoing translational and clinical research will be critical to improving the effectiveness of vaccine-based immunotherapy in GU malignancies.